Doppelgangland
by Ken's luver
Summary: (Re-written) Ken finds himself face-to-face with the evil Kaiser, his brother, Osamu. The fate of thousands rest in his hands, will he be able to make the hardest choice of his life? (complete)
1. Brave new world

'Doppelgangland'

1. 'Brave new world'

__

"I'm not afraid of tomorrow,

I'm only scared of myself!

Feels like my insides are on fire

And I'm looking through the eyes of someone else."

~ "Tomorrow" SR-71

His breath was hard and forced. His heart bounced off his ribs, creating a stabbing stitch in his chest, but he could not stop. Never could he stop. Or he would be killed…or worse. 

They were close now, he turned his head to look behind him, his indigo hair flying in his face, and as he turned back, strands caught in his dry mouth. But he could not fuss with that now, he didn't have the time. 

The school was like Fort-Knox to get into now that it was dark out and the moon was high. No, the school was not the protected goal; it was what was within the school. That being the computer room. The computer room with the only accessible Digital gate he could access. He couldn't risk going to the warehouse and reveal the Resistance's location. 

Ken took a corner, knowing that he was slowing down, fatigue setting in. Not even the 'Rocket' could run for hours and not feel it. He would have collapsed if it weren't for the pure adrenaline pumping through his veins. He took another corner, where he stopped against a door, listening intently for his pursuers. In the few seconds of rest, his mind flashed back to the point at which he had been running with Miyako. He hadn't seen her in months and now he had to leave her once more. He closed his eyes tight against the tears threatening to flow over his cheeks and remembered her face as he stopped running and hid with her in a small area like the one he was standing in now, his back pressed against a wooden door. She had looked at him confused, her pale face beading with perspiration. "Why have we stopped Ken? They're coming!" 

"I know. Miyako-chan, you can't come with me. As much as I would love you to be with me, I can't put you in that kind of danger again. I just got you back after thinking you were dead, please don't let him succeed in killing you this time."

She looked hard at him, her amber eyes filling with tears; "I love you Ken! I'd die for you! You know that! I want to go with you, please, let me go with you!"

He placed a finger on her lips and forced himself not to break down. "Please, don't make this harder. You know I love you, I'd do anything for you, but Miyako, I need you to live for me. I need you to go back to the Warehouse and-" he stopped as he heard voices coming towards them, "Go Miyako! Run in the opposite direction!"

"But Ken-"

He pulled her close and rested his bloody hand on her cheek. He stared into her eyes for what felt like hours and then he kissed her passionately. It took all his will to pull away and say to her, "GO!"

She did not argue this time, but instead ran like he instructed her to. 

That felt like only seconds ago, but in fact it had been almost two hours. 

His chest heaving, he took another deep breath and sprinted for his destination. 

Reaching the computer, he showed his white D-3 to the screen and was pulled through, only to land in the same computer room. Kneeling on the floor, catching his breath, he looked up, and listened for the hurried footsteps of the men chasing him. None came, and the panic was quickly replaced with confusion.

He blinked and looked around him, slowly moving towards the window, where he placed his palms on the cool glass, searching the twilight outside, the streets busy with teenagers walking around in couples and cars racing to destinations. 

Then it stuck him; "This isn't my world."

~~~~****~~~~

Yolei and Ken tumbled out of the computer and onto the cold floor of the computer room. Frowning, they both picked themselves up and blinked at each other. 

"Er, Ken, why are we in the computer room?"

Ken observed his surroundings, "I'm not sure. We should have come out in the Digital World."

"Well, yeah, if we wanted to go from your room to the computer room, we would have just walked here, but then again, we wouldn't want to come to the computer room at night. Night? Already? What happened to-?"

Ken cut her off by placing his hand on her mouth, looking at her incredibly seriously, "Shh. Do you hear something?"

He took his hand away, and the lavender haired girl strained her ear to listen. "I hear, footsteps. A lot of them."

"They are running this way. We should hide, I don't think it would look good if we were caught here." The young man glanced around again, "Especially since we don't attend this school. Well, you don't anymore and I never have."

Yolei nodded and he pulled her to the back of the classroom and forced her to hide under one of the desks.

Within seconds, about five grown men had flooded the room, all gathering in front of the computer screen. They were all dressed in navy blue pants and shirts, all with navy shoulder-pads, breastplates and knee-guards. They were carrying large guns, and didn't look like the kind of people you would pick a fight with. Ken focused on something on them; it looked like a ring around their wrists, black and very familiar.

"We lost him." The first man growled.

"Do we pursue?" asked another.

"No, we cannot, but our master can, and he will not be pleased with this news. He is in no shape to enter the Digital World."

Yolei and Ken looked at each other with raised eyebrows. 

"Come, we must deliver this news to him now."

They quickly exited the room, closing the door behind them as they left. 

The couple stayed under the desk for a few minutes longer before emerging out from under their hiding place. 

"Who do you think those guys were talking about when they said, 'Their master'?" Yolei questioned.

Ken placed his hand on his chin in a gesture of thought, "It has to be a Digidestined, because they said 'Only he can enter the Digital world'." 

"I'm confused." Yolei confessed and folded her arms, frowning. 

"Something is very wrong here Yolei." He moved to the large window in the room, looking down on the quiet street, a sense of uneasiness washed over him, "I don't think this is our world."

"What do you mean Ken?" 

"Look outside." He gestured to the window, "When we left for the Digital world, it was just turning dusk, but out here it is well into the night. Plus there's those guys and their talk of a master."

Yolei nodded and noticed there was no activity outside, "Where are all the people? There isn't a single car on the roads. Wherever we are, it's creepy."

"We should go, try and figure out where we are." Poromon advised.

"And more importantly, how to get back." 

~~~~****~~~~

Ken had found it relatively easy to get out of the school. He was used to picking locks to get in and out of places back in his world. He walked down the street, looking up at the setting sun as it stained the surrounding clouds with hues of orange, pink and lavender. His eyes dropped to his feet at the memory of seeing his last sunset before Miyako was taken from him.

He watched his feet as he walked under the street lamps that had just burst to life. He wasn't wandering around aimlessly, but in fact, looking for someone, anyone who could tell him where he was. He gathered that he was in Japan, Odiba, from the familiar scenery, but he needed to know if he had gone back or forward in time or if he was in a parallel universe. He had read about the subject often, and because of the digital world, he figured anything was possible. 

A sound caught his ears and he lifted his head to acknowledge the voice. 

"Ken!" It was Davis. He was running up behind Ken, "Dude, what are you doing here? It's getting late, shouldn't you be home?" He stepped back and took in Ken's appearance. He noticed that Ken's clothes were worn looking and there was a hole at the knee of his jeans. He also noticed that his hair was messy and though still chin length, it was uneven somewhat, not at all how Ken usually keeps it. He narrowed his eyes at him with concern, "Ken? Are you all right? Were you attacked or something?"

Not hearing what Davis had just said, Ken studied the boy's face, tears filling his eyes, "Daisuke? Is that you?"

The goggle-wearing teen frowned, "Daisuke?"

"Davis! Hey Davis wait up!" This time it was TK to call, Kari and Cody running along side him. 

Ken looked at them too, blinking back tears. 

"Hey man, what's wrong?" Davis asked, seeing Ken's eyes water and the way his face blanched.

"I can't believe it's you." He sighed.

Davis frowned at his best friend, "Huh? Ken what's up with you, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"Where's Yolei?" Kari asked, "I thought she was with you. Remember you were gonna meet us in the digital world, but you never showed up."

Ken blinked at the brunet. Then turned to the group as a whole, "I have something to tell you."

TK frowned at the disturbed look on Ken's face and stared at him, "Ken, it's okay, you can tell us. What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to tell you, so I'm just going to tell you straight out."

"Okay." TK indicated for him to continue. 

"I don't think I'm your Ken." He paused and looked at their faces. 

Silence. They pondered over the words that had fallen out Ken's mouth, wondering what he meant.

"Huh?" Davis summed it up nicely.

"I think I'm from a different world, a parallel universe, one very different to this one. Either that, or I'm from a different time, but judging by your ages, I don't think that's quite right." He stopped babbling and looked up at them again, "We should find your Ken and Miyako and let them know what's happening."

"What? Why? Huh?" Davis blurted out.

"Miyako? Um, here we call her Yolei and she's not home, we checked." TK informed him, "We called your, uh, Ken's place and he wasn't answering. We searched the Digital world, but we didn't see their signals on our D-3s. So I don't think they are here."

"Is it possible that they were sucked into your world?" Kari questioned. 

"Well, when I tried to access the Digital World, I was sucked into this world, your world. If they tried the same thing, it could be quite possible that they ended up in my world."

"And that's a bad thing?" Demiveemon asked.

Ken looked down at the blue dragon-type Digimon, "Yes, it's a very bad thing. For your Ken especially."

"Why?" Kari asked.

"Because," Ken hung his head in shame, "there's a price on my head."

"A price?" 

"In my world, I'm a wanted man, dead or alive."

"Why?" Cody looked at Ken sharply, "What did you do that people would be after you?"

Ken took a long pause before answering softly; "I tried to kill my brother."

The group looked at the ragged teenager who resembled the Ken they knew and loved, but was so different. Cody found his voice again and choked out the words through restrained anger, "You tried to kill Sam? Why would you do that?"

The young man let go of a long breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding and sat down under the street lamp, running his hands through his messy hair. "It wasn't something I wanted to do." He said quietly, as if he was not speaking to them at all, but instead at confession, "I had to do it. There was no other choice. Thousands relied on me doing it. He's a monster and has to be taken out."

"Ken," Kari said soothingly and sat down next to him, placing a hand of comfort on his shoulder, "you're not making sense. Tell us what happened."

"Osamu became a cruel tyrant." He continued as if he hadn't heard her, "Forced us to call him Kaiser and enslaved Digimon and humans, and locked them away. So many people were killed, so many friends." He began to shake and clutch at his hair, "I had to stop him. I had to. There was no other choice." He stared at the ground in front of him, his eyes growing wide, as if he could see the memories playing out on the asphalt like a movie in front of him. "I managed to break in. I had been to the base a few times before without him knowing, or maybe he did know and was just toying with me. Letting me get away with it."

The small group who had begun hovering around Ken looked at each other and back to him when he began speaking again.

"I was armed with my sword. I had been training for months, for that moment in my life. I wish I could have thanked Kouen for that, instead of shun her the way I did. I'll never forgive myself if he hurt her again. But then, I never knew if I could trust her."

"Who's Kouen-?" Kari began, but Cody signaled for her not to interrupt Ken's train of thought. The boy knew that Ken was venting and that he would eventually answer their questions in his own time and his own way. She nodded and looked down at Ken again.

"I managed to get into his bedroom, where he was sleeping. He was guarded of course, but I managed to get past the guards by destroying the rings on their wrists. It seemed so easy. He just lay there, so peaceful, like he was my brother again. I had to remind myself that he was not my brother, that he would never be my brother again." He paused to look at his hand, which was crusted with dry blood. It shook violently and Ken felt his stomach turn over at the site of it, but the poison was being released and he could not stop himself from continuing his confession. "I stood over him, my sword raised over my head, poised to plunge it into his heart, but at that moment, he opened his eyes, and I knew for that spilt second he was Osamu again. He wasn't the Kaiser, he was my brother and I couldn't do it. I flinched and missed his heart, but I still pushed the blade of the sword into his body. Shocked at what I had done, I pulled it out again and heard him howl with pain. Blood, there was so much blood. I had to stop it. I pressed my hands on the wound, but it didn't make a difference. So I ran. I don't remember how I got down to the dungeon but I got there and I found Miyako. She was alive! I couldn't leave without her, so I picked the lock of the cage that held her and set her free. She was so thin and fragile, but I made her run with me. I couldn't leave her behind."

He stopped again and held back a sob, "I had to though, she couldn't come with me. He would kill her if she did. I love her." He breathed, "I love her."

Davis bent down and sat next to Ken on his other side, "I think we should get you inside and let you rest or something."

Kari nodded and looked around, "TK, would you mind if we went to your place? It's the closest." 

The tall blond nodded and helped Ken stand up again, "It'll be okay Ken, we'll help you."

They began walking in the direction of TK's apartment block while Ken used TK and Davis as a crutch to support his tired body. The somewhat vacant youth mumbled, "It will never be okay."

~~~~****~~~~

After finding their way out of the school, without setting off any alarms, Ken and Yolei made their way down the deserted street, the intended destination was Ken's apartment. 

Yolei shuddered with cold and wrapped her arms around herself; "I still don't see why we don't just go to my apartment." She complained. 

Ken unzipped his black jacket and handed it to her to keep herself warm, "Well the trouble started with my computer, so I figure we start there to find out where we ended up and see if we can use the computer there to get back to our home."

"Okay," Yolei mumbled as she zipped up his jacket, "but can't we take the train then?"

Ken grinned at her and nodded, "Okay Yolei, we'll chance the train." He glanced around himself, "I have this strange feeling that it's a bad idea if we are seen." 

She took his hand, "Really? How do you mean?"

He shook his head, "I'm not sure exactly, but it's just a gut thing. Makes me wish I had brought Wormmon with me." 

After a quiet train ride, in which they seemed to be the only passengers, they arrived at Tamachi station. They began walking towards Ken's apartment but when they arrived there they found the place to be swarming with men who looked like the ones they had encountered at the school. Yolei figured they were some kind of police as her mind wondered to the day when they had found Ken's home flooded with police men, the day they tried to confront the Emperor in the real world. 

She looked at him worriedly, "What do you think is going on here?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Wait here."

Before Yolei could stop him, he ran to a bush and hid behind it, eavesdropping on a conversation a couple of the large men were having.

"…He was not happy with the news."

"Do you blame him? His own brother, tried to kill him."

"Foolish really, doesn't he realize Osamu is evincible?"

Ken bit back a yelp of surprise when his dead brother's name was mentioned. But what had that guard said? That he, or his self in this world, had tried to kill him? Why would he do that?

Yolei stood quietly against the wall, watching Ken intently when she nearly screamed as a hand rested and turned her by the shoulder. A tall boy with chocolate brown hair, tied in a pony tail faced Yolei and smiled, "Hey, what are you doing out this late, don't you know it's not safe?"

Yolei cocked her head at the boy; he was dressed in jeans and a green shirt, matching his green eyes. His appearance appeared clean enough save for the fact that his clothes looked old and worn. Her gaze was averted when another figure moved out from behind him, a girl, slightly shorter than Yolei, with short brown hair, a pink top and yellow shorts. There was a shocked look on her face.

"Miyako you escaped? But how? Nobody has ever-" Hikari didn't finish her sentence, but decided to hug the older girl as sobs escaped her.

"Kari? There are somethings I need to tell you, and a lot of things to ask you. First of which is, my name is Yolei, nobodies' called me Miyako in years."

Hikari pulled away and stared at her with confusion, "You've never called me Kari, you know I don't like the nickname. What's going on here?"

The taller boy frowned at the bush where Ken was crouching, "What is Ichijouji doing? Does he want to be caught?"

Yolei looked at him, "Caught? What do you mean?"

"Ken tried to kill his brother tonight, but failed, unfortunately and now everyone one of the 'Masters' snipers are out for his blood."

Yoleis' eyes widened and she swallowed, "Ah, what? He tried to kill Sam? What kind of world is this? The Ken in this world must be like the Digimon Emperor!"

Hikari and the older boy frowned at Yolei, "Miyako, I mean Yolei," Hikari explained, "Osamu has been keeping you prisoner for months. Ken tried to save you all, all of us tonight by killing his brother. A very hard decision for him to do, but the only choice. The Kaiser is too far gone."

Yolei clutched her head; "I'm so confused!"

"I think there is a lot of explaining that both of us have to do when we get back to home-base." The older teen suggested.

Looking back at Ken they noticed something they could not have stopped, one of the snipers had spotted Ken and grabbed him by the neck. Ken choked back a yell of shock. 

"Well, that was easy enough." The sniper mused.

"No!" Yolei made to rush out towards Ken, but Hikari and the other boy grabbed her, "Let me go!"

"Yolei, it's too late for him now. Don't get us caught too. We may be his only hope." Hikari told her.

Yolei relaxed in their grips, "I don't understand!"

~~~~****~~~~

Else where, in a large room, a single figure sat on a 'throne', his hair spiked, his glasses gold-rimmed, a sadistic smile etched on his face. The sound of a phone ringing pulled him out of his thoughts. He pressed a button that seemed to not be there and spoke, "Yes?"

"Master, we have him."

"Excellent. Bring him to me now!"

"Yes sir."

Osamu put the pressed another button to hang up, wincing as his shoulder hurt him, a reminder of where Ken, his brother had stabbed him. The fool had missed his heart by inches, and he would pay dearly for trying such a thing.

A horrible glint was in his eyes as he thought over how he was going to punish his enemy, and his grin grew.

A young woman by the name of Kouen Tamashii around the age of twenty stood at the Kaisers' side dressed in a very feminine, floor length Vietnamese Ao Dai. It was pure white with gold edging around the hem. It was tight fitting, starting at the collar, which was like a choker around her neck, all the way down to her waist, where it flared into a skirt. The skirt part of the dress was divided into two drapes of material, one at the back and one in the front. This meant that her legs could been seen in the slits all the way up to her thighs. Where she should have worn pants, she wore white hot pants.

She turned to the twenty-one year old tyrant, her copper braid swinging at the small of her back as she did so. Her eyes were glazed over, but she seemed aware of her surroundings. The red strands of hair fell in her large green eyes and she lifted her right arm to brush them aside, the Black Ring glinting in the artificial light of the throne room.

He turned to her, "Kouen," he said kindly; "do you love me?"

She smiled sweetly at him and nodded, "Yes master, I love you with all my heart." Though her voice was kind, it was void of emotion.

The smile on his face faltered a fraction when he heard her reply and he sighed as if the answer had not satisfied him. His spirits did brighten though when the thought of his brother being tortured at his hands, came to mind again. 

----~~~~----

Nic: Okay so not many changes were made to the first chapter.

Ken: But the writing was improved. 

Nic: There's that.

Kaiser: Plus the fact that this is the starting block, after the first few chapters, that's when the real changes will be made. 

Nic: You hit the nail on the head. 

Osamu: I can't believe you are giving us more work by making us re-write this. When you have so many other stories that you are working on.

Nic: Quite whining! 

Wormmon: I just know you have new readers reading this and thinking, 'what the hell is going on?'

Nic: Well if they stick with it, they will know exactly what is happening in the second chapter. Also I should add, that Akino Ame was inspired by my first attempt at Doppelgangland to write her story 'With Broken Wing' (which is brilliant by the way), and if things are similar between the two that is why. Do not flame her or me for what you may think may be steeling of ideas or copying each other. We are friends and fans of each other's work and I am honored that she wrote a story, which was inspired by my story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this version so Doppelgangland. If you liked it before, I'm sure you will love it now, 'cause I hated it before. Anyway, there are twelve chapters and an Epilogue as well as a sequel. I will post a chapter every Saturday.


	2. Pain

"Doppelgangland"

2.'Pain'

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"I got a heart full of pain,

Head full of stress.

Handful of anger, 

Held in my chest.

Uphill struggle,

Blood, sweat and tears.

Nothing to gain, 

Everything to fear."

~ 'Nobody's listening' Linkin Park. 

Gingerly, Ken opened his eyes to find he was in semi-darkness. He looked around him finding that he was in a prison, one that looked horribly familiar from his days as the Emperor. Suddenly in a rush, all the feeling in his cold body came swelling back to him and he sat up quickly to escape the icy bite of the stone floor. He quickly regretted doing such a thing as a mild migraine struck his head. He shut his eyes tight and pinched his fingers between them, in a futile attempt to stop the throbbing. As he brought his hand down, he felt a whelp on his face where a guard had struck him before throwing him into the back of a van, where he received a few shocks from a taizer gun. 

He had horrible flash backs of another time he had being in the back of a van and had something cause him indescribable pain, which caused him to pass out. 

And this is where he had awoken this time. He stood up and shivered. He was dressed in jeans and a thin shirt, which served no protection from the cruel breeze that, seemed to find its way through the cracks in the walls. He breathed deeply and tried to squint through the darkness of the dungeon to see what was across from him, but it was pointless, he could see nothing. 

He took in another deep breath and coughed. The air was so stale and heavy that it seemed impossible to breathe. Not to mention the sickening stench that had just found its way to Ken's nostrils. 

'I know that smell.' He thought to himself. He looked around him; 'It smells like the Dark Ocean's beach.' He narrowed his eyes in confusion, 'That's odd.'

The sound of footsteps getting louder ripped him from his thoughts and a sickening dread filled his gut. It was time for his so-called-punishment. And as he saw it, time to get some answers. But what bothered Ken most was that he had no idea why he was in this prison in the first place and why everyone wanted to attack him. A dreadful thought filled his mind of the Ken in this world being the Emperor, but he wasn't just taking over the Digital world, but the Human world too. He shuddered and saw a tall man dressed in navy blue with a navy blue cap on his head, standing in front of his cage. He instinctively stepped back and the man began turning the key in the lock. 

Suddenly Ken didn't want to know what was going on in this dimension. He didn't want to know who had locked him up or why they were going to punish him. What he did know is that he would escape at the first possible chance and that chance was now. 

The tall blond man swung the door open and stepped in to grab Ken when he pulled a Judo move and forced the teen to flip over Ken's back and land hard on the floor, knocking the wind from him. The man grunted and tried to sit up, but Ken punched him in the face and ran like hell out the prison and down the corridor of other cages. 

His speed decreased as he saw that the cages were filled with people and one of them held Yolei. He dashed to the bars of her prison and held them tight; furious at how she looked. She lay helplessly on the floor in a fetal position, but she looked very different to how she had looked a few hours ago. This girl lying there looked like she hadn't had a good meal in a long while. She also wore a torn and tattered dress and her hair was messy and unwashed. 

Suddenly the girl sparked to life at the site of the young man standing in front of her and she rose to her feet. "Ken!" she breathed, "I'm sorry, I failed you. They caught me as soon as you escaped from the base. What are you doing here? You'll be killed, get out of here!"

"Yolei?" Ken questioned confused at what she was saying.

"Go Ken." She said quietly, as if it took all her strength to say it. 

His heart filled with a deep pity for the girl and a deep affection and he lightly touched her hand that was resting on the bars, "You're freezing." He gasped. 

Suddenly she grabbed his hand with a grip that was surprisingly strong. She looked into his eyes with a fear that was so intense. "I don't want to lose you Ken."

"What did they do to you?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter now, all that matters is that you get out of here!"

"Not without you." 

For a flicker, her eyes left his to look behind him, but it was too late for her to scream or for him to react. The Sniper had struck him with the back of his gun and Ken fell to the floor, his world swirling in and out of focus. 

~~~~****~~~~

TK handed Ken a cup of coffee and the young man took it gratefully, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." 

Kari sat down across from him and folded her legs; "So what you were trying to say is that your brother became the Digimon Emperor?"

The indigo-haired teen looked up sharply, "How do you know about the Emperor?"

"The Ken from our world," Cody began with a bite of repressed bitterness, "he was once called the Digimon Emperor, and from what you've told us about your brother, he seems to be an extreme version him." 

"We call him Kaiser, but I'm curious about Ken being the Emperor, how did that happen?" he asked. 

"It happened years ago," Davis began, "after his brother, Sam died."

They watched Ken's face drain of colour, but Davis continued.

"Because of his jealously for all the attention that Sam got, he wished that Sam would disappear and then he did. He felt so guilty about that. Then he was infected with a Dark Spore, which caused him to become the Digimon Emperor until we defeated him and befriend him."

Ken let the information filter into his brain and then looked up at them again, "He was infected with a Dark Spore?"

"Yes."

"And Osamu, sorry, Sam, wasn't?" Ken asked. 

"No, he died before that happened." Cody informed him. 

"Why?" TK inquired. 

"Well it's just that, Osamu was infected with the Dark Spore as well as myself, though we called it a Dark Seed."

Kari's attention peeked, "Both of you were infected?"

He nodded his head.

"Then why did it only take affect on him? When Ken was infected with it, he was sucked into the Dark Ocean realm and that's where he changed. Then it started to feed off his darker impulses and he became the Emperor." Kari inquired gently.

"I don't know why it hasn't taken affect on me yet. I don't even know why it affected Osamu so badly. All I do know is that Osamu created his own Digivice because he was so jealous of me for being chosen for something important. After doing that he joined me in the desert where my digimon and I were finishing off a digimon called Millenniumon. When I saw these black things zooming at Stingmon and I, I shoved him out the way and took one myself in the back of my neck. That's when I heard my brother scream. I didn't know he had been there and I couldn't save him from it." Ken hung his head with shame.

"That's when he changed right?" Davis asked. 

Ken lifted his head again to regard the teen, "No, he only started to change a few years later. About four or five, I can't really remember now. First he started to take over the digital world and then he eventually ran away from home to live there. And that's when the big trouble started. Nothing any of us did, not the old or new Chosen Children could stop him. He couldn't be reasoned with until Kouen talked him into coming back to the Human world. But even then he wasn't quite right and that's when he began slowly but surely taking over Japan." 

The group had a suspicion that he was holding back some information but they let it slide for now, there were more pressing matters to discuss. 

"How is that possible?" TK marveled. 

"Yeah," Cody added, "it's not like in the digital world where digimon are controlled with Dark Rings and stuff. People can't be controlled like that."

"Can't they?" Ken looked at them darkly, "Osamu altered the rings and spirals to work on human beings. On people. There are a few different types, but the main, basic ring which is on all the Snipers-"

"Snipers?" Gatomon inquired. They hadn't heard a peep out of all the digimon so far so it gave them a start when she did speak and they all looked down at her.

"Snipers are sort of like Osamu's army. Like his personal police or something. They do all his bidding. They capture and kill for him. Basically whatever Osamu orders them to do, they do it. He has complete control over them. Then there is the type that Kouen is forced to wear."

"That's the third time you have mentioned Kouen, who is that?" Cody asked. 

Ken paused for a long while before he finally took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "She was the love of Osamu's life. To me, she was like an older sister. The three of us used to spend a lot of time together but then something happened and she didn't visit us as much as she used to. Her and Osamu had a fight, she hardly talked to me about it and it was impossible to ask Osamu because at that stage he had begun working on taking over Japan."

"You think maybe she broke his heart and it caused a reaction with the Dark Spore?" Kari asked. 

Ken shrugged, "It's possible. Anyway, now he has her wondering around his base like a prize that he won and she is wearing a Black Ring that doesn't control her exactly but forces her to act like he wants her to."

"That's so sad." Kari mumbled. 

"Why doesn't any one fight him?" Davis questioned, "I mean, other countries and stuff, why don't they get involved?"

Ken gave a hollow laugh, "They are too afraid. Technically Osamu owns the world because he has all the power. If another country decided to try and bomb his base or one of them anyway, he would just send a few powerful digimon to go and destroy a part of their country or kill a political leader. It happened once before and no one has dared to go against him again. So that is where us Chosen Children came in." He sighed heavily, "We formed a resistance and tried to fight the Kaiser but he was many and we were few. Eventually more and more people began joining us and standing up to him. So we have been fighting in our own way. We've managed to save a few Snipers by breaking their rings and they have joined our side, but it's not enough. We fought battle after battle and eventually we lost too much."

"So you thought the only option left was to assassinate him?" Cody asked quietly.

Ken turned to him, "Don't judge me until you know what I know and you have seen what I have seen. Iori would tell you the same thing if he were alive."

Cody blanched and held Upamon tight. 

"So you see why your Ken is in so much danger. If he is in my world, everyone will naturally assume it's me and the Snipers will take him to Osamu to be punished and probably even killed. I was trying to escape to the Digital world because it's the safest place at the moment. No Snipers can enter it only Osamu can and when I left him he was in no state to do that. Which meant that he could not send out orders for Digimon to hunt for me. By the time he was fit enough to enter the Digital world I would have been so far into it that it would have taken him years to find me.

But instead I ended up here, in your realm. Osamu must have tampered with the gates somehow before I escaped. He knew that I would head for the Digital world."

"He was probably trying to block the gate and instead ended up opening up a portal to other dimensions." TK concluded. 

"Exactly." Ken said nodding sadly. 

"We have to save Ken and Yolei." Davis stated.

"Easier said than done." TK muttered. 

~~~~****~~~~

The tall Sniper shoved the dazed indigo-haired teenager through a door with a high arch. Ken narrowed his eyes against the light coming from the room. It was a strong contrast to the dark and dank corridor he had just come from. 

The Sniper forced him to move to the middle of the room, which resembled a sports area, or one of those arenas that Gladiators used to fight in. Ken tilted his head to look up but felt the strong light pierce his already aching head and so he dropped his chin again and looked at the dusty caramel floor. 

The Sniper used his foot to kick the back of Ken's knee, forcing him to fall hard onto his knees. "You will bow to the Kaiser." The Sniper spat at him and then left Ken alone in the large room, closing the door behind him. 

Through the confusion of the situation, Ken gritted his teeth in anger for what the Sniper had told him to do. Even though Ken was no longer the Emperor he still did sometimes think what the Emperor would have thought and at this very moment he was thinking he was too proud to bow down to anyone. 

"I had no idea the Snipers would catch you so easily." 

Ken's head lifted sharply at the voice. His heart leapt up into his throat and at the same time, his stomach disappeared. He lifted his head to look up again and used his hand to shield his eyes from the bright florescent lights. To his horror, he saw the Emperor sitting on a black velvet throne. The only difference was that this tyrant was wearing a jump suit that was white and jet-black where it should have been royal blue. Also from what he could make out, this Emperor was not wearing the violet visors that he had worn, but instead gold-rimmed glasses. The same glasses that his brother Sam had worn. 

"What? No come back?" 

"Who are you?" Ken asked bravely swallowing on his anxiousness. 

He heard an empty laugh; "You know who I am Ototo-chan, stop playing games. We are far past that."

Ken's stomach returned and it filled him with a sickening feeling of joy and terror, "Sam?"

"You haven't called me that since you were eight. And you know better than to call me Osamu anyway, it's Kaiser fool, do I have to keep teaching you?"

"What's going on?" Ken demanded.

"What's going on?" he laughed again, "You tried to kill me Ototo-chan remember? In my sleep, like a coward!" 

Ken's eyes widened and the conversation of the two Snipers filled his head again, "Wait!" he yelled desperately, "There's something I have to tell you!"

"And what is that?"

"You won't believe me." He confessed quietly, "But I have to tell you."

"Speak then and stop wasting my time."

"I don't know how it happened, but I was brought to your world by accident. I don't belong here."

The Kaiser frowned deeply and tried to stand, but felt his wound sting and Kouen helped his back into his seat. "Not your world? Please? Do you honestly expect me to believe this lie just to spare you from the punishment of attempted murder? For a fleeting moment Ken, I thought you were smart and brave. I thought that you would come here again and fight me like a man, but you aren't a man and you certainly aren't brave or smart. If you were you would have confessed your crime and I would have gone easier on you. You're a fool dear brother, you always were and you always will be."

Ken's eyes dropped to the floor as his hand dropped to his side. A great sadness filled him as the words of his older brother filled his ears, but he quickly reminded himself that this was not _his _brother, but another version of his brother. But still, a part of him remembered back to the day when Sam would get angry with him and call him hurtful and degrading things. 

He sighed deeply and shrugged, what else could he say, what else was there for him to do? He had no proof of his statement and even if he did, he doubted that the Kaiser would care. He knew this because a part of him remembered how it felt to think as the Emperor and the Emperor would only care that punishment was given out. 

His thoughts were confirmed when he heard Osamu say, "Besides, brother, you look like Ken, you sound like Ken you move like Ken, so therefore you must be Ken. And if you are Ken, you must be killed."

Ken's head flew up at the Kaiser with shock all over his face. His eyes were wide and full of horror. 

"But first you will suffer a little for my entertainment." He turned to Kouen who nodded as if reading his thoughts and hopped onto the balcony edge. She teetered there for a moment before forcing her weight forward, sending her to fall down to the arena below. Ken thought for sure that she would kill herself if she continued to fall like that, but in an instant, the nimble young woman somersaulted in mid air and landed gracefully in a crouched position. It was clear to Ken that she was an expert in a fighting and the martial arts. He hopped he would not have to fight her, for he did not like the idea of using his skills in Judo to hurt this woman. 

To his relief, she sauntered past him, her copper braid swinging at her back with each step and stopped in front of a cage, which lead onto the arena. However, the terrible uneasy feeling of what was in that cage soon swallowed that relief. 

When Ken saw what it was he was to fight, he began wishing it had been a man-eating lion or even Daemon, but instead it was a person who resembled his best friend, Davis. He knew that it wasn't Davis, but rather it was this world's version of him. But that didn't make it any easier for Ken to fight him. He had no desire to hurt him. 

Suddenly a thought floated to him, where was this Ken? What would he do if he were forced to fight his best friend? And the answer came to him easily, for he was Ken, he would not fight him. He would refuse to fight. 

"There Ken." The Kaiser called, "You are to fight Daisuke, your best friend, to the death."

"I will not fight him!" Ken yelled angrily, "How can you expect me to?"

Osamu laughed cruelly, "I never did Ken. I know you too well. So in a twist of fate, he will kill you for me."

Ken glanced at Daisuke and noticed that he wore a Dark Ring on his left wrist, just like the Snipers. He also noticed that the goggle-wearing teen's eyes were slightly red and glazed over. Then he turned to Kouen who stood frozen by the cage. She too was wearing a ring, though her eyes were not red and slightly less glazed over. He ran to her, grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her, "Why do you not stop him? I know you can hear me! You have to fight it! You can't let him keep controlling you!" 

For a brief second he could see something in her spark, but it was gone as soon as it had come and Osamu was screaming down at him. 

"NO ONE TALKS TO KOUEN, MY QUEEN! UNHAND HER AT ONCE!" He looked down at Daisuke, "KILL KEN! COURAGE, I ORDER YOU TO KILL HIM!" 

With those words, Daisuke dashed at Ken and grabbed his neck, swinging him around and throwing at right hook to Ken's face. 

~~~~****~~~~

"You said earlier that Osamu, I mean, Sam died. What happened to him?" Ken asked suddenly very interested in the story. 

"Well," Davis began solemnly; Ken was about nine when it happened. They were crossing the street when a car came speeding around the corner and was about to hit Ken. Sam knocked Ken out the way and the car hit him instead. I think he died before the ambulance even got there." 

Ken bowed his head and became very quiet, "How awful to see your own brother die in front of you."

"Not the same as physically killing him is it?" Cody asked earnestly though with a touch of disgust." 

Ken turned very sharply to him; "I'll ask you again not to judge me Cody-kun until you have walked in my shoes."

Cody narrowed his eyes at the young man and unforgiving turned away after a moment of icy stares between them. 

Ken looked to Davis, TK and Kari again, "I'm assuming Ken loved his brother till the very end?"

There was a quick glance between the Digidestined before TK answered, "Well, Ken did love his brother and he misses him terribly, but for years he felt guilty about being jealous of his brother for getting all the attention and like we said, he wished for him to disappear. Shortly after wishing that, his brother died. That's how the whole trouble of Ken turning into the Digimon Emperor started."

"He'll try to reason with him." Ken blurted out. 

"Sorry?" Demiveemon asked. 

"Ken, he'll try to save Osamu, try to sympathize with him, especially because he has been there and because he feels guilty about losing one brother he'll try to make up for it with my brother." Ken concluded. 

"You think he will?" Kari asked.

"I would." Ken said sadly. 

"How are we going to get to your world?" Gatomon urged. 

"That's a good question." Ken ran his hands through his hair, which was a mannerism they were not used to seeing on Ken because their Ken did not like to mess anything up, he liked things to be as neat as possible. Clearly this Ken was far past that line of thinking. 

"You'll be killed if you go back there." Kari suddenly stated as if the thought had only recently entered her head, "You can't go back."

"I have to. This is my burden, not his. I am the one who deserved to be punished not him. Besides, there are too many people back home who are depending on me and relying on me to finish the job."

"How can you just kill your own brother?" Cody spat. 

Ken sighed heavily, "Stop trying to understand me Hida. My brother is too far-gone, there is nothing left to save, even if he wanted to be saved. He's done too much, hurt too many people, _killed_ too many people, not to mention Digimon." 

The child of Knowledge and Reliability jumped up, unable to hold it in anymore, "How can you say he is a lost cause? How can you just give up on your own brother? How could you kill him?"

Ken gritted his teeth and slowly turned to him, "Why do you have such a huge chip on your shoulder about this? Is this how you treated your Ken, your friend, when he stopped being the Kaiser?" Ken stood up, "I ask you again not to judge me until you have seen what I have seen. I saw the death of Iori Hida, your Doppelganger by the hands of my brother. Now ask me again. How can I avenge the death of my friend? How can I avenge the death of my partner? How can I avenge the pain of so many?" 

Unable to reply, Cody sat down again and did not utter another word.

Ken looked at the rest of the group again as he sat, "Now, who is the person you go to for all computer knowledge?"

"I'll phone and see if Izzy is home." TK said jumping up. 

~~~~****~~~~

Yolei paced in front of Hikari and the young man who was with her, glancing every now and then at the huge warehouse they were living in. By the looks of the place, it seemed hundreds of people lived there. The building resembled an old prison, with balconies on every floor. The doors along the corridors were to offices and some had windows which had a view of the whole warehouse and the middle floor. There was a large space in the middle of the warehouse where crates and boxes, tables and chairs as well as mattresses were scattered. To the side were two rooms. One was an old control room office; the other looked like a dojo. Then there was the cafeteria, which was off to the side behind the office. Some floors up, the platforms and other areas had been made into makeshift bedrooms with old mattresses and a few personal belongings of who ever slept there. Lots of people, ranging from young teens to adults were scattered around the warehouse. 

Yolei resumed her focus and finished her sentence, "Anyway, we were sucked into the computer like always, but then instead of ending up in the Digital world, we ended up in this world. This world where everything is confusing."

Hikari, who was sitting on a large crate, thought for a moment, "I guess we are a parallel dimension and somehow the gates to the Digital world were altered. Which begs the question, what happened to our Ken?"

"He quite possibly could have switched places with Ken and Yolei here." The chocolate-haired teen shrugged.

"I'm sorry you never did tell me your name." Yolei said turning to him.

"Sorry, it's Mike." 

Yolei frowned, "You have an accent."

"Yeah, I was born in New York and moved here a about two years ago." He held out his hand in a gesture to shake it with Yolei, who lightly shook it. 

"Nice to meet you, Mike." 

"Mike joined the resistance about a year back after his home was torn down to make the Kaiser's base. Or one of them anyway." Hikari ground out.

"That's horrible." Yolei gasped. 

Mike shrugged, "Kaiser takes what he wants, when he wants. We've learned to get used to it."

"But it doesn't make it right." Hikari said, balling her hands into fists. 

"No, it doesn't."

"How long ago did this all start?" Yolei asked shocked.

"About three, four years ago, I think. I'm losing track." 

The lavender haired girl looked around, "Where are the other Digidestined?"

"You mean Chosen Children?" Hikari asked, "Some we lost to the Kaiser, others were captured and the rest are out patrolling. They will be back soon." She bit off the sentence and hopped off the crate, "Excuse me." And she turned and walked to a small room in the back of the warehouse. 

"She doesn't like to talk about it. At first she used to cry about it, now she just gets more and more angry every time the subject is mentioned." Mike informed Yolei.

"That's horrible." The girl muttered and looked at the door that Hikari had just gone through. 

~~~~****~~~~

Daisuke made another attempted to kick Ken in the gut, but the swift blocking he did stopped every blow. Growing more frustrated at being unable to fulfil his master's order, Daisuke dropped and did a sweeping kick, causing Ken to loose his footing. He stumbled backwards, leaving him momentarily off guard, letting Daisuke get in a strong punch to Ken's face again. 

Reeling, Ken retaliated in instinct with a right hook of his own. It connected but seemed to do little more than anger Daisuke further. 

"I don't want to hurt you." Ken panted and blocked another punch from Daisuke. However Ken noticed that the angrier Daisuke became, the stronger and faster he got. Soon Ken felt a kick to his chest, which winded him and sent him flying backwards. He tried to catch his breath as quickly as possible and to stand, but Daisuke was there, standing over him. The young man began kicking Ken in the abdomen and in the ribs until he gave one last strong kick to his side, causing Ken to roll onto his back. 

Ken felt the weight of Daisuke sitting on his chest and then felt the steel grip of his fingers lock around his neck. If Ken kept refusing to fight back, Daisuke would kill him and he could not let that be on this young man's conscious. Rather hurt him now, physically, than let him live with the emotional scars. If only he could find the strength to fight back. He clawed at the ground, as he felt his lungs burn and his brain cry out for oxygen. 

----~~~~-----

Ken: You are cruel, you know that?

Nic: Aww I'm sorry Ken-chan, but Osamu is a cruel person and you have to get beaten up.

Wormmon: He doesn't have to suffer you know.

Kaiser: And where's the fun in that?

Nic: I hate to admit it, but Kaiser is right, we love to feel sorry for Ken and well…

Osamu: And well, you just love to hurt him.

Nic: Well, the readers love it. 

Ken: That's lovely, really, that's just peachy.

Kaiser: I can't believe you are re-writing this.

Nic: Oh, will you get over it please? It's better already isn't it?

Kaiser: Yes, but don't come crying to us when you get bombarded with ideas and are stuck writing this story.

Nic: Oh, I won't, 'cause I'll have plenty of time in the holidays. 

Osamu: *-* great.

Wormmon: What did happen to me in this world?

Nic: All in due time, Wormmon, all in due time. I would like to add here that I would like to thank Akino Ame for all her support and help! Also I need to add here I'm sure, that I use the Japanese names and terms in the alternate universe (Doppelgangland). To answer Sylvyr Elf's question, no, Kouen was not in the original version of this story, I just add her to it now. She gives a huge dimension to Osamu's character. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this, and thanks to everyone who reviewed last time, if you still enjoy it, please review again. Please though, I would like to state, in your reviews, let me know about my writing, my characters (in the case of Kouen when she becomes a bigger character that is), if something confuses you (and be specific, don't just say, 'I'm confused', tell me why, so I can fix it.) Another thing, please don't ask me to read your fics, I will read what catches my attention and what I prefer to read. I only read the first three lines of a story, so if you hook me, well done, 'cause I'm very picky. Thanks again.


	3. When to run away

"Doppelgangland"

3. 'When to run away'

__

"I've become so numb,

I can't feel you there.

Become so tired,

So much more aware.

I'm becoming this

All I want to do

Is be more like me

And be less like you."

~ 'Numb' Linkin Park

"This is prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed as he paced past his computer and the Digidestined again. 

They were all sitting on the floor against his wall watching him pace as his mind filtered the information they had just given him. 

"How did I know he was going to say that." TK smirked at Kari who nodded with a grin. 

"So now the question is, how do we get to that world?" Patamon asked. 

"Hang on." Ken interrupted, getting up off the floor, "Who said you guys were coming with me?"

"Well," Davis said looking up at him, "we need to save Ken and Yolei, how can we do that if we don't go with you?"

"No." he stated shaking his head. 

"Listen buddy," Davis snapped, rising to his feet to challenge Ken, "these are two of my best friends we are talking about here. You say they are in mortal danger and we say 'how fast can we get there?' I can't just sit around and do nothing!"

For a while Ken stared at Davis with an emotionless mask and then suddenly his face broke into a sad smile, "You two are exactly the same."

"Me and who?" 

"Daisuke." Ken replied quietly. 

"Uh, guys," Izzy interrupted, "before you do any more talk of who is going and who isn't, we should first work out how exactly Ken got here. I mean we have no idea how Osamu managed to rig the digital port."

"Good point." Gatomon nodded as she made herself comfortable on Izzy's bed.

"I mean this is really actually very exciting and amazing. An alternate universe! I mean I always wondered about it, especially after going to the Digital World, but I never even dreamed that there was a world with doppelgangers in it! Especially our doppelgangers! And I mean, he seems rather different from our Ken, but he looks exactly like him, it's extraordinary!"

"I'm standing right here you know." Ken snapped a bit impatiently at Izzy. 

"Sorry," he apologized, "it's just this brings about so many new theories."

"Sorry Izzy," TK apologized, "but we don't have time for theories right now. We have to figure out how to get to Ken's world so we can rescue Ken and Yolei."

Izzy moved to his laptop and turned on the monitor, "Well, the gate to the digital port is still here. Maybe everything is back to normal now."

"No, it was there when I tried to access the Digital world but got brought here. For all we know, that gate could take us to my world." Ken pointed out. "We could always just dive in and find out." He added sarcastically. 

"That's a pretty good idea Ken." Izzy commented. 

"What?" Ken yelled, "I wasn't being serious! That could be so dangerous. Who knows where we would end up!"

"Well, look," Izzy began, "I could sit here for weeks maybe even months trying to figure out what Osamu did to the codes to change the gate, while our friends are being killed, or you could risk it and just go for it now. I have tried to figure out all these portals and things for years, but really, I'm no closer to figuring it out as I was when I was a kid. So Ken, it's your choice."

Ken sighed and folded his arms, scowling.

"Come on Ken." Davis urged, "It's the only plan we have. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of talking about this and not doing anything!"

"Me too!" Demiveemon added hopping up and down.

"I'm with Davis." Kari added. 

"What about the rest of you guys?" Davis asked.  


TK shrugged, "Like you said, what choice do we have really?"

Cody nodded and moved closer to the monitor, "Yoleis' my best friend and I won't let anything bad happen to her if I can help it. Now lets go."

"You're all crazy do you know that?" Ken muttered shaking his head.

"Are you coming or not?" Cody asked him.

"I don't have a choice remember." He stepped closer to the monitor.

"I'll stay here and try and keep an eye on things. I don't see any way of us keeping contact, so lets just hope nothing goes wrong." Izzy said, trying to comfort them, "While you're gone, I'll try and figure out how Osamu changed the codes, but I can't promise you anything. I hate to say it guys, but you're on your own."

"It's okay Izzy," Kari turned back to him, "just let my brother and the rest of the older Digidestined know where we are and what's going on."

He nodded, "I will."

Davis held up his D-3 and yelled, "Digi-port open!" and in a second they were sucked into the computer to who knows where.

~~~~****~~~~

"Hey Mike." A tired voice called out and Yolei and Mike turned to see who had spoken. 

A tall young man with messy blond hair sat slumped on a chair near the door of the warehouse and began removing thick black gloves. Obviously he hadn't really looked around the room before saying hello, because when he did he nearly fell off his chair. He leapt up so quickly he tipped it over. He ran to where Mike and Yolei were standing and then stared at Yolei. 

His mouth dropped open and he turned to Mike, "Does this mean that Ken succeeded?"

Mike shook his head sadly, "Sorry Yamato. This not Miyako."

Yamato frowned and looked at Yolei, "But she looks exactly like her."

"I know. It's a long story, but basically, she's from another dimension and while she was trying to get to the Digital world, she was brought here. In her world she is called Yolei." 

Yolei smiled, "Hi." 

Yamato stood staring at her for another moment and then shook her hand, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude, it's just I though that I had seen it all, but apparently, not."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Yolei muttered taking a seat on the crate, "How did all this happen?" 

Yamato sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "You want to tell her or should I?" 

"You go ahead," Mike replied, "I think I'll go talk to Hikari and try to cheer her up." He hopped off the crate and walked to the little room in the back of the warehouse, closing the door behind him.

"I really don't know where to begin, but basically it all started when we couldn't defeat Osamu as the Kaiser in the Digital world. A girl named Kouen Tamashii was the only one who could really reach him, but even she couldn't stop him from taking over the real world." He shook his head, "Even after all these years, I still can't believe that he did it. It seems so unreal."

"Tell me about it." Yolei sighed, "But what I want to know is how he did it."

Yamato went into a long story of how Osamu contracted the Dark Seed and how he began taking over the Digital world and then the real world. He informed her of the Black rings and how people had been controlled and how the whole world was too afraid to act against him.

"Osamu has a Dark Spore?" 

Yamato nodded, "You know what it is?"

"Ken, my Ken, he was infected with it when he was about nine years old. That's what caused him to turn into the Digimon Emperor. But we defeated him and now it's not active anymore."

"So the Osamu in your world never got infected with it?" 

She shook her head; "Ken calls him Sam, and no. He died when Ken was young and that's also where things went wrong for him. The Spore fed on all his sadness and anger and hate."

"That's interesting." Yamato mused. 

"How so?"

"Well, both the Ichijouji brothers here were infected with the Dark Seed, but it only took effect on one of them. In your world, Ken was the only living Ichijouji child who was infected and so it took effect."

"Where are you going with this?" she asked frowning. 

"Well, it begs the question, why was Osamu only affected by its influence and not Ken as well?"

"Osamu didn't die." Yolei pointed out. 

"What?" 

"Well, think about it. The trouble with my Ken all started after he wished his older genius brother would disappear. Then Sam dies and Ken is left feeling like it's his entire fault. The Spore hits him, he's sucked into the Dark Ocean and wham, he's the Digimon Emperor. But, clearly Ken, your Ken's brother is still alive. Which means, that his spore didn't have enough negative emotions to feed off. Why, though would Osamu have more than Ken?"

"Well, Osamu always did seem really stressed out all the time. He was always studying and in interviews and stuff. He never really had much time to spend with Ken and as he got older the worse it became. Then Ken was called to the Digital world and helped us Chosen Children-"

"Wait," she interrupted, "he was one of the first original Digidestined?"

Yamato nodded, "Osamu became so jealous of Ken for being chosen. He would lash out at Ken for no reason and hated the fact that Ken was chosen for something so important and he wasn't. Then suddenly he had a Digivice and could enter the Digital World. That's when things went down hill."

"It all seems so crazy." She exhaled loudly and then looked up at Yamato again, "Where were you?"

"When?"

"Just now, you came back from somewhere. Where was it?"

"Oh, I was out doing patrols for lost or runaway kids."

"That's probably what Mike and Hikari were doing when they came across Ken and I." She muttered. 

"Ken's here?" Yamato asked, shocked. 

She nodded sadly, "He was captured by the Kaiser and now is being punished by him for a crime he didn't commit."

Yamato's eyes fell to the ground, "I'm so sorry." He looked up suddenly, "But we have to do something! We have to rescue your Ken!"

"Right now we have to wait for the rest to get back." Hikari said as she walked up to them along side Mike. It was clear she had been crying, but had hurriedly wiped the tears away. 

"I'm sorry Hikari." Yolei hopped off the crate and hugged the Child of Light, "I never think before I open my mouth!"

"No! Yolei, really, it's okay, how would you have known." She parted from Yolei and gave her a reassuring smile. 

Suddenly the computer sitting on a table in the main office of the warehouse came to life. The screen flashed bright white and the group of people who had been staring at it gasped when the light faded again. Five teenagers had landed in a heap on the ground groaning. They picked themselves up off the ground and looked around. 

"Well," Ken announced, "we made it." He narrowed his eyes, "Home sweet home." He added bitterly.

"Ken!" Yamato, Hikari and Mike called out as they ran towards the group. Yolei followed after them and smiled widely.

"You guys! What are you doing here?" 

"We had to rescue you." Davis stated. 

"But you had no-idea where I was." She stated. 

"Not true Yolei," Cody corrected her while giving her a hug, "Ken here is from this world and he told us what might have happened. Looks like he was right." 

She turned to Ken, "Hi," she held out her hand, "I'm Yolei." 

He stared at her in the same way Yamato had, but with more sadness in his tired eyes, "Nice to meet you Yolei." He said politely shaking her hand. 

Hikari stepped forward and looked at her mirror image, "This is so weird." 

"Tell me about it." Kari replied. 

"Ken, you're alive. I thought the Snipers might have gotten to you." Yamato breathed. 

"They almost did. I'm sorry Yamato," Ken looked down in shame, "I failed."

"It's okay Ken, we'll think of something else." Yamato assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"We have a problem though," Mike interrupted, "Osamu has their Ken now." 

Ken turned sharply to him, "How long ago was he captured?" 

"About an hour." Hikari informed him.

"We have to go to the base now!" Ken urged. 

"Are you crazy? And risk him capturing you! Ken, he'll kill you!" Yamato reasoned.

"He'll kill an innocent man because he'll think it's me! We have to go!"

"We don't even have a plan though." Hikari argued. 

"When have plans ever made a difference? He's always one step ahead of us, at least this time he won't have seen this one coming. Now, I don't care what you think, I'm going, with or without you."

He marched over the dojo and to a cabinet. It was full of various weapons and he picked up a long sword. "Lets go." He said as he marched towards the door. 

Yamato let out an angry growl and huffed as he followed after Ken. The rest joined them and as soon as they were outside, Davis, Cody, Kari and TK Digivolved their partners, however when it failed, Yamato pointed out the Dark Tower that loomed over the area. 

So all of the digimon used the Digi-armor evolution instead. 

~~~~****~~~~

Ken saw Daisuke's image swim in and out of focus as he tried to pry the steel grip off his neck. Finally, mustering all his strength and energy, he brought up his right knee as swiftly as he could. Then when it could lift no further, he straightened out his leg causing his foot to connect with the back of Daisuke's head. The blow did more strain to Ken than harming Daisuke, but it did have the desired effect. Daisuke loosened his grip on Ken's neck out of surprise and glanced behind him. That was all Ken needed. The Judo trained seventeen-year-old managed to throw Daisuke off his chest with a powerful blow. He tried to get his breath back as soon as possible while Daisuke began to recover. Ken leapt to his feet and took a fighting stance. 

"Ooh," Osamu grinned sadistically, "Looks like he will fight after all. This will be more exciting than I thought." 

Kouen looked up at Osamu and then back at Ken, 'Remember your training Ken.' She thought silently to herself.

Daisuke was obviously been controlled; it was evident in the way he fought. There was no passion behind it, just a simple need to hurt and destroy. It sickened Ken; it sickened him more to know that he had once instilled this upon many Digimon in his time. 

Daisuke ran towards Ken and made to punch Ken's face, but he quickly blocked the move and with a flat palm, returned Daisuke's force back at him with a blow to his gut. The auburn haired teen stumbled backwards, but it didn't stop him for long. He was back in a flash with a sweeping kick, which Ken jumped over and returned with a drop kick. Again Daisuke stumbled but did not fall. The two went on with hand-to-hand combat for a solid twenty minutes and Ken felt himself become weary. However he noticed that Daisuke was still as strong as he was when he first started. The Dark Ring was giving him the power. 

Suddenly he heard Osamu's cruel laughter, echoing on the air around him. Without thinking he flinched and glanced up at the Kaiser on his throne. A big mistake on his part because as he turned his attention back to Daisuke, his fist connected to Ken's eye. This time the indigo-haired man stumbled backwards and hit the stone wall behind him. Before he could think of retaliation, Daisuke was right there next to him. He spun Ken around and scrunched a fist of Ken's shirt collar in his hand. Then with tremendous force, he yanked Ken's head and neck backwards and then just as forcefully, jerked him forward again, causing Ken's forehead to smash against the wall. Ken felt the burning and stinging pain resonated through his head, blinding him with pain for a moment. He screwed his face up in effort to dull the blow. In that moment he forgot about everything. He had no time to defend himself against Daisuke's punch to his kidney. This blow brought Ken to his knees with a sickening agony. 

Daisuke kicked him in his side this time, but Ken barely seemed to notice anymore. He fell to the ground and scrunched up his face in concentration. He had to get rid of the ring. He was trying to think back to the days when he was first designing them. He remembered he had designed a fail-safe mechanism in them in case he should fall victim to one himself. Suddenly in a flash he saw the ring in front of him on a large monitor and him sitting in front of it as the Emperor. He focused on the ring through all the pain his body was going through and finally saw the device. It was a small weakened spot on the ring, just a few centimeters from the catch. All he needed to do was to put a certain amount of pressure on that particular spot and the ring should break. 

He hopped that Osamu's design was the same as his. 

In a second, Ken opened his eyes and saw Daisuke's fist coming at his face. Like lightning, Ken grabbed his fist and held his wrist tight. Then he pressed down as hard as he could on the ring as Daisuke squirmed to get free. After what felt like hours, the ring cracked and finally crumbled into nothing. 

Daisuke fell to the ground and shook his head. Ken too, fell backwards and spat the blood from his mouth out. 

In a bust of anger, Osamu rose to his feet and yelled, "IMPOSSIBLE!" 

Without another thought, he grabbed Daisuke's wrist again and began running. He ran to the gate that Kouen was standing in front of. With pleading eyes Ken asked her to open the gate, but he knew that she was being controlled. However he remembered the tiny spark in her when he had asked a question before. To his surprise, the young woman looked up at the furious Kaiser and then back to Ken. In an instant she had unlocked the door and had begun screaming in pain, obviously a punishment for going against Osamu's orders. 

He thanked her and began running, Daisuke in tow. 

Behind him he heard Osamu's frantic screams, "Snipers! After them! Kill them!"

Ken's heart pounded on his ribs, like a bird too large for it's cage, fighting to get out. His mouth was dry and tasted like blood, and his body protested with each time his foot impacted with the ground. Every muscle in his body seared with a burning pain. But there was no time to think of that now.

If Ken looked back on this moment in a few years he would not be able to tell you exactly how he got out of the base, let alone onto the abandoned road he was running on. He did not look back or around him as he ran, but instead kept focused on what was ahead of him, which at this very moment was nothing. Ken came to a screeching halt as he discovered through the thick darkness that the highway he and Daisuke had been running on had just suddenly come to an end. Clearly there had been a fight in this area, for the buildings looked battle scared and the road was crumbling. 

"Ken!" Daisuke blurted out, realizing where he was and that his best friend was standing next to him. "What happened?"

"Daisuke there's no time to explain, sorry, but if we live through this, I'll tell you everything." Ken looked back down at the long fall and then behind him. He blanched at the site that met him. Hundreds of Snipers were only a few meters from him and Daisuke, as well as Osamu on an Airdramon. He looked closer and noticed that the young woman dressed in white was also at his side. She was staring at Ken with a look he had never really seen before, but it broke his heart in an instant. 

He broke his gaze from her and looked back down to their only other option and sighed. 

"What now?" Daisuke groaned. 

~~~~****~~~~

"We are almost there!" yelled Hikari from Nefertimon's back; Kari was next to her. 

"Hey!" Davis yelled from atop Raidramon's back, "What is that?"

All the teenagers and Digimon turned to where Davis was pointing.

"It looks like," Cody shouted from atop Digmon, "Davis and Ken!"

"That's Daisuke!" Yamato shouted. He was next to Cody on Digmon. 

"They're in trouble!" Yolei screamed from her position, which was elevated thanks to Halsemon's aid, "There are hundreds of Snipers after them, and," She gasped at the sight of the Emperor look-alike, that was Osamu, "Ken's brother!"

Ken and Daisuke spotted the Digimon and Digidestined and Daisuke gasped, "Raidramon!"

"Davis!" Ken screamed to the figure riding on Raidramon.

Yolei instructed Halsemon to fly closer to the end of the highway, "Ken!" Yolei cried, "You're okay-!"

"No time, Yolei!" Ken pushed Daisuke onto Halsemon's back with Yolei and after a quick look behind him, turned to jump onto the poor Digimon with Yolei, but a deafening blast irrupted and a bright explosion burst beneath the freeway, causing the Digimon and Digidestined to flee the area. 

"Fools! You missed!" Osamu screeched.

Ken turned to look behind himself again and met the Kaiser's gaze. In that brief second between them, Ken knew exactly what he was going to do to him. He had no choice but to jump off the edge and hope for the best. Ken spun around, his indigo hair whipping his face as he did so, and ran the rest of the way to the edge. When he reached it, he jumped. His stomach sank as he felt himself free fall to the hard ground beneath him. In a second where he prepared himself for impact, he felt himself hit something soft, feathers. Yolei smiled at him as she instructed Halsemon to fly higher and get as far away from here as possible. "Need a lift." She giggled.

Ken smiled, but quickly felt something hit his neck and a white-hot pain shot through him. He clutched at the Black Ring that Osamu had thrown at him. 

"NO!" he heard Yolei scream as his world around him faded to nothing.

----~~~~----

Nic: I seem to be on a roll with these chapters. 

Kaiser: Yeah? Well wait till you have to start writing new chapters. 

Nic: Are you kidding me, I can't wait, you should see all the plans I have!

Ken: We did remember, we gave most of them to you.

Osamu: We are idiots for doing that aren't we?

Wormmon: Kinda.

Kouen: Any room for a new muse?

Ken: Kouen's a muse now?

Nic: Well, sure she is, she gives me lots of ideas. 

Osamu: I see, so like Mae was a muse in Weight of the Worlds, Kouen is a muse for this story. 

Nic: I guess so. 

Kaiser: Kind of a crappy chapter, what with the repetition and all, and not that many changes towards the end there. And those poor Digimon with all those young adults on their backs, jeez!

Nic: You feel sorry for the Digimon? That's funny that is. But yeah okay, the repetition is just something we all have to deal with, see, not every character knows how this all happened, so it had to be explained to them, I tried to make it brief. Also, I like the end of this chapter, so shut up will you. 

Nic: Now for an updated AN, I am so sorry for only posting this on Monday when I promised that every Saturday I would put up a new chapter. The problem is that I am entertaining a friend from over-seas and my time is been consumed. Plus, I was horribly sick on Saturday and could hardly move. I'm really sorry guys, but I promise, come hell or high water that I will have the next chapter out again next Saturday. 


	4. Control

"Doppelgangland"

4. 'Control'

__

"No one knows what it's like

To be the bad man, 

To be the sad man

Behind blue eyes.

And no one knows

What it's like to be hated

To be faded, to telling only lies.

No one knows what it's like to feel these feelings

Like I do, and I blame you!

No one bites back as hard

On their anger

None of my pain woe

Can show through."

~ 'Behind blue eyes' Limp Bizkit.

Yolei clutched Ken in her arms as his head lolled feebly to one side. "Ken!" she cried hopelessly and then looked up at the burning eyes of Osamu. He was hovering above the group of resistance fighters on his Airdramon. But she noticed he was not looking at her or Ken in her arms, but his gaze was some two feet away. 

They rested on the other Ken, standing firm next to a crumbling pillar, clutching a sword in front of him and staring up at his brother with an intense dislike. Yolei watched as Osamu's eyes seemed to widen under their glasses and then they flickered back to the Ken in her arms. His eyes narrowed this time and with a sneer, made a gesture to the Snipers around him to leave the scene. As one the men all hurried away back to the base, while the Kaiser gave one more look of utter hatred to both Kens and retreated on his Airdramon. 

The group glanced around themselves and then heard Ken yell, "Lets get the hell out of here!"

They did not need telling twice and so retreated in the opposite direction. 

~~~~****~~~~

Within the base Osamu stormed down a long brightly-lit corridor. He winced as his wound reminded him that he was not as strong as he once was, thanks to his little brother. 

He stopped and clutched at his chest, and a Sniper next to him asked if he could help. Osamu looked up at him and nodded, "Tell Jyou the pain killers he gave me are not working, I need something stronger." 

The Sniper nodded his head and took off in the direction of the stairs. 

After a few more steps, Osamu stopped outside of a black door with no handle. He looked to the Sniper on his left and growled, "I wish to be alone, now go."

This Sniper too, nodded and left.

The Kaiser punched in a number code on a little panel on the side of the door and with a whoosh sound, the door slid open. He stepped into the dimly lit room and the door slid shut again behind him. He walked a bit forward and looked around the room. He stopped at the site of a figure sitting with her back to him looking out a window. Then he marched forward. 

The girl was around the age of fifteen, with piercing pale blue eyes and long black hair. She had pale pink lips in which she smiled dolefully at the Kaiser. 

"That boy was telling the truth! There are many doubles here! What does this mean?" he demanded of her.

She continued to stare out the window at the night sky, "I do not know."

"You don't know?" he yelled, "Then have a vision, find out! You're an Oracle for God's sake!"

Her voice was very soft and very calm, "That is not how the visions work Master. I have told you this before."

"I am tired of this! I want to know why they are here and-" 

He cut himself off, as the girl suddenly closed her eyes. A white light came from the palm of her hands forming a kind of crystal ball of energy and light. It illuminated her face in a stunning, yet frightening way and her hair started to lift and fly about her. Her eyes opened again and stared at Osamu.

"What is it?" he asked desperately.

Her voice was a monotone and much more powerful than it had been only seconds before, "Destiny cannot be changed, fate may try to intervene, but it always comes out in the end. They are here for a reason, to learn and to teach. They will be your demise." 

The light faded and her hair rested on her back again. She returned her gaze back to the sky when Osamu turned away from her. He growled and stormed out of the room, leaving the girl alone once more. 

He marched back down the corridor and stepped into the monitor room, where several Snipers waited for his instruction or to help him sit down in his throne. He glanced around himself and asked the nearest Sniper, a young teenager with red hair where Kouen was. 

The Sniper shrugged, "I don't know Sir. She was in the arena with you before you left but I haven't seen her since."

Osamu sighed, "She must be wondering around the base again."

Osamu was right, Kouen was walking through the base, quite unnoticed by the passing Snipers, as they never dared look at her or ask her questions of what she was doing. She stopped outside the black door Osamu had just been to and glanced around herself, then she punched in the keys and the door slid open. Silently, her bare feet stepped over the threshold and again the door slid shut. 

She walked over to the girl within the room, who was now standing by the window. 

"I knew you would come." Her soft voice said. 

Kouen stood in front of the girl and looked down at her wrist. The Black Ring glinted in the moonlight, then she looked back up at the girl with her eyes only and the young girl nodded. 

~~~~****~~~~

Yolei bent over Ken while trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. Yamato had helped her place him on top of one of the crates so he was lying flat on his back. 

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, though her voice was choked due to the lump in her throat. 

"Well, he's wearing a Black Ring for one thing." Daisuke stated grimly. 

Yolei rounded on him, "I know that you idiot! But why is he so…so vacant?" 

Yolei stared down at him again with a concerned mask on her face. Ken had been unconscious for about twenty minutes now and only a few minutes ago had he startled them by opening his eyes with such sharpness, it made them jump. However, he had not done anything else since. He hadn't even blinked and his eyes looked unfocused and empty. 

Cody came closer; "He looks like a robot or something." 

"Don't get too close to him." A voice from the shadows called. They all turned to Ken, who was placing his sword back into its cupboard. 

"Why, he won't hurt us-" Davis broke off when Ken suddenly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the crate, but again he was still and made no more movements for a long while. 

Daisuke moved over towards the desk where Ken was sitting. He spotted the blood on his hand and Ken made to place his hand in his pocket but Daisuke pulled his wrist towards him, to inspect his hand. "God, Ken, you didn't."

The indigo-haired youth yanked back his hand and averted his eyes from his best friend, "No, I failed at that too." 

Daisuke sighed deeply, opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything and so closed it again. 

He stared at the doubles in the room, from Davis to Yolei and Ken to Cody, TK and Kari. "So they are from another dimension?"

"A parallel universe. Apparently similar to ours, the only difference is that Osamu is dead there and Ken was the Kaiser." Ken stated bluntly. 

"I see. Do you think they'll help us in the battle?" Daisuke asked in a low voice. 

"I think they will." 

"Hey! You two come over here!" Yamato called out to them and they made their way towards the group at the crate. "He blinked."

"And how is that a big deal?" Gatomon asked as she leapt up onto the crate to get a better look at Ken. 

"Well, it shows he is awake at least." Hikari shrugged. 

"I've never seen a person react to a Black Ring like this before." Ken muttered. 

"That's because it's different." A smooth female voice announced from behind them. 

As one, they all turned to see a tall young woman, dressed in a white Vietnamese dress with a long copper red braid down her back standing in the door way. They also noticed that a young teenage girl was standing behind her. This girl was dressed in a deep violet, velvet dress that reached all the way to her toes and draped over her palms. Her hair was a long sheet of black, which seemed a bit unkempt. Her eyes were an intense pale blue and the black pupil in the middle of them seemed to pierce into a person's mind. 

"Kouen!" Yamato breathed and made to make his way over to her, but she closed the distance between them, with the girl closely at her heels. 

"Hello Yamato." Kouen said, trying not to look into his eyes. Suddenly very aware of everyone's gaze on her, Kouen turned to the rest of the group. She took in all the doubles around her and then Ken with his collar. "He wasn't lying when he said he was from another world." She mumbled. 

"Kouen," Hikari asked desperately, "what do you mean this ring is different?" 

"Hello Hikari," Kouen said flatly, slightly offended that she did not ask how Kouen was after being kept at the base for months. "Well," she continued, "He's been working on it for some time now and I have my guess that he was planning on using it on Ken, though of course, not this Ken here." She indicated to Ken sitting on the crate, blinking unseeingly. "How did Osamu manage to get it on to him?"

"Well," Yamato began, "we were storming the base when him and Daisuke came to a halt at the old freeway and when Ken was about to jump onto Yolei's digimon, Osamu sent the ring out and it caught him around the neck. Though Osamu noticed his mistake when he saw all of us." He added with a laugh.

Kouen's eyes went wide and finally met Yamato's large blue ones, "Osamu saw you?"

"Well, I don't think he noticed me, no, but-"

"Yamato, how many times have I asked you to stay out of his line of vision? I have one death on my conscience, I don't need yours too!"

"Kouen, I-" but Yamato never got to say what he was because Ken had interrupted him to step in front of Kouen. 

"How did you escape?" He asked her without so much as a 'hello'. 

Kouen glanced at the mirror image of Ken on the crate and back to the one in front of her, "He showed me how. When he was fighting Daisuke in the arena, I watched him break Daisuke's Black Ring. After the attack by the freeway, I went back to the base and wandered to the monitor room to see the plans to the Black Rings, which, consequently is how I found out about that ring on his neck, but I'll get back to that. Anyway, I noticed a weak spot on it and so deciding that I was going to escape, I went to get Shinsei and then I broke the ring myself."

"I'm sorry," TK interrupted, "but how come you are free to wander around the base?"

Kouen rested her green eyes on the blond, she stared at him for a while before starting and saying, "I'm sorry, you're just so much like him. What's your name?"

"TK Takaishi." 

"Well, you see, Osamu has a fault when it comes to me, he's a fool. He lets me wonder freely about the base and no one is allowed to look at me let alone talk to me. So no one asks what I am doing or where I am going. Aside from that, the Black Ring that I was wearing was designed to keep me in the base and do, as Osamu wanted me to do. I was in a way, programmed to how he wanted me to be. Over the past few months I have been learning to fight the control of the ring. That is how I got into Shinsei's room and how I managed to break the ring and walk out of the Base."

As if seeing her for the first time since they arrived, Hikari, Ken, Mike and Yamato turned to the dark haired girl behind Kouen. The red head sidestepped and looked at the new faces, "This is Shinsei. She's rather quiet and prefers to keep her own company, so don't take it personally if she doesn't talk to you."

Kari smiled at the girl, but felt the intense gaze of Shinsei to be too much and so turned back to Kouen. 

"Anyway," Kouen went on, "this new Ring is very different from the others. I think it is a way of Osamu using Ken to hear and see what we say and do."

"So he's using spies again is he?" Ken said darkly with his eyes on Kouen. 

She lifted her head and looked down on Ken. 

There was a long uncomfortable pause where no one said anything and then Kouen went on, "Well, at any rate, I suggest we tie him up, just encase." She turned on her heel and indicated for Shinsei to follow her.

"Where are you going?" Yamato asked her. 

"To take a shower and change." She called behind her. The group watched her disappear into a room on the side of the warehouse and turned back to Ken sitting on the crate. 

"I'm gonna go take a shower too." Ken muttered and began walking in the opposite direction. 

"What should we do with Ken here?" Mike yelled to the retreating teen. 

"Tie him up like Kouen said!"

~~~~****~~~~ 

Osamu seemed to be completely absorbed in what he was working on, because he was not at all concerned that he hadn't seen Kouen in over half an hour. He was now busily typing away on a keyboard that was invisible to everyone except him. The bright screen showed the designs of the ring Ken was wearing and Osamu was busy typing in commands for it. He paused from typing long enough to place a pair of purple visors on in place of his glasses. A sadistic smile spread over his features and he began typing again. 

~~~~****~~~~

Ken's eyes suddenly came into focus. He stared straight ahead of him and found he was in a large factory or warehouse. He also felt that his legs and arms were bound so he tried to look down, but a small electric shock licked his neck. He tried to frown but came out with the same results. 

'What's going on?' he asked mentally and suddenly the knowledge came to him. 'I'm wearing a Dark Ring? But this is not how they are supposed to work. The digimon is not supposed to be able to think, just act on command.' A sick sensation of guilt weighed down in his stomach as he remembered designing and fitting the Dark Rings. He tried to push the feeling away.

Suddenly Davis' face came into view in front of him and he began waving his hand in front of Ken's eyes. "This is so frustrating! Why won't he do anything?"

"I thought we told you to not get too close to him, Davis." Cody said from somewhere near Ken's left. 

Ken felt slightly better, knowing that his friends were all around him. 

However, that feeling vanished as Davis began shaking Ken by the shoulders and caused his neck to crick. Yolei rushed over to her boyfriend and smacked Davis upside the head, "Are you trying to give him whiplash? He's hurt enough as it is without you adding to his injuries." 

Ken made to open his mouth to thank Yolei but the ring gave him another shock, this time slightly bigger than the last one. 

'Every time you try to do something against my wishes, you will receive an electric shock. The bigger the action, the stronger the shock. Understand Ototo-chan?'

Ken's stomach squirmed and he pictured his eyes go wide. 'Sam?' he questioned mentally, but no, he corrected himself, 'No, he's not my brother, in this world he's a monster.'

'The same monster you were once.' Another voice told him. This one though was far more familiar as it was the one that plagued him every other day, reminding him of his destructive days as the Emperor.

Ken pushed the voice aside. 

'So this is a new kind of Dark Ring? But okay, how come I have control of my thoughts?'

'Because, fool, I designed the ring to let you be fully aware of everything around you while I have complete control of your motor functions. You see, I could make you rip Daisuke's heart out and have you eat it, all the while you know exactly what you are doing, but are powerless to stop yourself.'

Ken felt his stomach disappear. 'You wouldn't-?'

'Of course I would! I wouldn't make you rip out his heart because that is revolting and I don't think I could stomach that, but yes, I would make you do horrible things similar to that. You see I had originally made this ring for my real brother, but I suppose I will have to use you instead. It will still affect him and that's all I want.'

Ken noticed that Yolei was standing in front of him now and she had cautiously placed her soft palms onto his cheeks and was staring into his crystal blue eyes. 

"Ken-chan? Can you hear me?"

Ken made to nod his head, the shear effort of it was draining and the slight movement he did make caused the ring to protest and send a pulse of electricity to his throat, giving him an instant headache. 

The lavender haired girl closed her eyes and sighed. Then angrily turned around and screamed, "What kind of a monster is this!?" In the all the years that Ken had known her, she hadn't lost a single shred of determination that he so admired her for, and right now, she paced the room, looking determined to take down someone for doing this to him.

'It's a good thing I'm tied up,' Ken thought smartly, 'now you can't make me hurt them.'

'Don't be so sure of that.' He heard Osamu's voice echo in his mind. 

'How is it that you can hear my thoughts?'

'Wouldn't you love to know.' Osamu teased, 'It's a complicated program, but this ring around your neck, not only lets me have complete control of you, but also allows me to communicate with you through your thoughts, by reading your brain-waves, as well as making itself apart of you. Which means I see what you see and hear what you hear. I don't want to bore you with the facts, I'm sure I would just confuse the hell out of you anyway. I often forget that you are a fool, just like the rest of these mindless insects in this world.

'Now lets show them how this ring works.'

'NO!' Ken screamed mentally, 'Please-!'

But before Ken could complete the thought, Osamu had forced Ken's hand out of the ropes that held them and in a second, his fingers gripped around Cody's throat. The young teenager had been leaning over to look closely at Ken and now severely regretted it. 

Everyone present rushed to Cody's aid as the choking boy struggled to tear Ken's surprisingly strong grip away from his neck, while the others tried to pull Ken off him. 

'NO! Stop it! You're killing him!' Ken screamed at Osamu.

'Correction, Ken, YOU are killing him.'

'Stop! Please stop!'

'Alright, but just remember I have other things in mind for you.'

As abruptly as it had happened, it stopped. Ken's grip on Cody, went slack and his arm fell to his side. Cody stepped back and took in a deep breath, rubbing his bruised neck.

Furious at what had just happened, TK rushed forwards and began re-tying Ken's wrist behind his back. Kari noticed how rough he was being and saw how the rope cut into Ken's already raw wrist. When Yolei gasped, Kari rested her hand on TK's shoulder, "TK, it wasn't him, he was being controlled."

TK sighed and shaking slightly said, "I'm sorry, I just got angry that's all."

"Yeah, well, just keep that temper in tact TP!" Davis growled.

TK shot the goggle warring boy glares inviting a fight between the two.

Gatomon stormed up to the both of them and hissed, "Now is not the time boys!"

"Gatomon is right." Said Ken suddenly as he paced in front of the group. Most of them started because they had not noticed him returning from the showers. "We have to prepare for what my brother is planning next and what he is planning for your Ken."

He sat down and found himself staring at Yolei. Feeling his gaze on her, she turned to look at him with a soft expression. 

"I'm sorry." He said hastily, "I didn't mean to-it's just that you look so much like her."

Yolei blinked, "Miyako right? Hikari had the same reaction. How long has she being a prisoner?"

Ken shook his head, "Too long. I tried to save her tonight, but judging by the fact that she is not here, she must have been recaptured. It should be me in that cell, not her." 

"This isn't your fault you know." Yolei tried to console him. 

He gave a bitter laugh, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe, but I do know that she doesn't blame you." 

Ken watched the two talk and felt a deep pity for the Ken sitting next to his girlfriend, 'This must be so hard for him. I can't imagine being away from Yolei for a day, let alone months. I nearly went crazy seeing Miyako in that prison thinking it was Yolei. I can't imagine what this must be like for him-" Ken cut himself off and felt himself groan, he had just handed Osamu a weapon against him. 

'So you care deeply for Yolei do you? Well then you should show her how you feel.' The voice was full of sadistic bitterness. 

'No! You leave her the hell alone!'

'Oh, I will, but you won't.'

'Oh, God, no, please don't make me do this.'

----~~~~----

Nic: Finally another chapter done.

Ken: Some things are still confusing in this chapter I think.

Kaiser: You only think that 'cause Nic hasn't explained everything yet. Like why there is bitterness between Ken and Kouen and Yamato and who Shinsei is and stuff like that.

Osamu: Now see if she went and explained everything in the first few chapters, what would be the point in reading further?

Wormmon: It's all about intrigue.

Nic: Yup. I can't wait to have finally moved past re-writing and go onto writing I have so many ideas for this story!

All: *groan*

Nic: Ah, it's not that bad!

Nic: (Updated AN). Okay, one thing I refuse to do is give Ken another name, his name is Ken in both the Japanese and English episodes for a reason and so therefore I am not going to give him another name. I'm sorry if this confuses any of you but I tried my hardest to explain about which Ken I was talking about. And if you think logically most of the time you can tell exactly which Ken is which.


	5. So close yet so far

"Doppelgangland"

5. 'So close, yet so far'

__

"They say that I must learn to kill

Before I can feel safe,

But I'd rather kill myself 

Than turn into their slave."

~ 'In the Shadows' The Rasmus 

Mike looked around at the group; "We should get some sleep. It's late."

Ken opened his mouth to argue but sighed and dropped his shoulders, "You're right." He glanced at his doppelganger for a second and made his way over to the small office type area of the warehouse and opened the cupboard again. He pulled out his sword and moved to an area just a few feet from the office. This area was clearly the workshop and Ken put down the long steel weapon on a desk and began putting on thick brown gloves.

"We should keep watch though, just encase he does something during the night." Mike added, indicating to Ken sitting on the crate like a statue. 

"You read my mind, Mike." Ken stated and placed a welding mask on his head, "I don't intend on sleeping tonight so I'll keep an eye on him."

Yolei frowned at this for a moment before Mike went on, "Ken, don't do this to yourself. You're exhausted, you need some rest."

Ken looked up at the brunette with irritation on his face, "I'm fine." And without much more argument, he flipped the mask down to cover his face. 

"Ken," Yamato sighed, but Kouen had appeared at his side, her long hair wet and curly. This time she wore a pair of baggy blue jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. She shook her head at Yamato and the blond looked down, "I wish he wouldn't torture himself like this."

"Me too. But it's in his nature. The most we can do now is just watch out for him. Maybe you could just keep watch tonight too, you know, incase he falls asleep?"

Yamato nodded and she turned, her face unreadable and made her way back to her room at the end of the warehouse. 

Cody, Yolei and TK moved over to Yamato and, Cody, after hesitating, asked Yamato, "How long has Ken being like this?"

They turned to look at the teenager now busy fixing his sword with a blowtorch. 

"For a long time. Ever since Osamu started taking over the worlds, he's just steadily gotten darker and anti-social. He's determined to stop his brother and save everyone. He feels like it's all his fault."

"But it's not!" Yolei protested. 

"He doesn't see it that way. And neither does Osamu." Yamato sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. 

"Kouen said she blamed herself for someone's death." TK said suddenly, "Who's?"

The tall blond looked down upon his brother's double sharply, then his features became softer, "Iori's."

"But it's not is it?" 

Yamato shook his head, "Not technically, no, but try telling that to Ken or Kouen, they have always blamed themselves and they will always blame themselves."

"Why?" Cody asked with interest.

Yamato closed his eyes and shook his head, "I don't think we should discuss this tonight. It's late and you should get some sleep."

He indicated for Kari, Cody, Yolei, TK and Davis to follow him where he would show them where they were to sleep. He took them up some steel stairs onto the second level of the building and showed them another room off to the right. He opened the door and showed them the various mattresses and sleeping bags that they were to sleep on. "I'm sorry it's not more comfortable, but we don't have much else."

They shook the apology away and said thank you for the room. Yamato bowed to them and closed the door behind him, leaving them in semi-darkness, save for the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. 

~~~~****~~~~

Yolei sat up after what felt like hours of tossing and turning, fighting to get to sleep. Her mind was not in the least bit tired, though her body protested when she stood up. She stepped out of the sleeping bag she had tangled herself up in and silently opened the door of their room. She shut it quietly behind her once again and made her way down the steel steps. She looked around herself and noticed all the activity in the warehouse had ceased, everyone within the building was asleep. Due to not looking where she was going, she lost her footing on the last couple of steps and gasped when a pair of strong hands caught her upper arm. She looked up and drew in a sharp breath again at the two crystal blue eyes, practically glowing in the dark. She blushed deeply, "Thanks Ken."

He smirked, "Your welcome."

'Yolei run!' he thought desperately to himself. 

'Don't try anything stupid Ototo-chan, or you know what will happen.' Osamu's voice rung in his ears.

Clearly, Yolei was under the impression that the indigo-haired teenager next to her was Ken from this world and because of the darkness of the building, she hadn't noticed his clothes. Her Ken had being wearing gray pants and a white shirt, while Ken from this world had been dressed in old jeans and a blue top.

The lavender haired teenager stepped down and moved closer to the window to look at the sky. She rubbed her arms nervously; "I can't see any stars. There were stars earlier when Ken and I fist came here, but now I can't see them. Is it 'cause of clouds or something? Or is it always this dark here?"

"You don't like the darkness?"

'Stop this!'

'Hush Ken, I'm trying to listen to what your girlfriend has to say.' 

'If you know that I'm not your brother, why are you still doing this to me?'

'Insect, because by hurting you, I hurt my real brother and everyone around him. You see my bleeding heart brother carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, always has always will. Now on with the show.'

It happened in a second, much to Ken's protesting, his hand clamped over Yolei's mouth and his other hand pushed her to the floor. 

'How does she taste Ken?' Osamu's sick voice filled Ken's head to the point where Ken felt himself become queasy. 

'NO! Stop this!' he screamed at Osamu but the Kaiser did not listen to him. 

Ken kneeled over Yolei, so he was sitting on her torso, holding her arms above her head, he bent down to savagely kiss her, muffling her screams. Being Yolei, and being the person she is, she brought her knee up sharply, letting it connect with his groin.

'AHHH!' he mentally yelled, 'Shit'. 

'She has some fight in her, I like that.' Osamu laughed cruelly.

'She'll do it again if you don't take me off her.' Ken growled angrily. 

'Do I sound like I care?'

Knowing full well the consequences of his actions, Ken threw himself off her, and received a sharp electric pulse through his entire body. The burning, stinging sensation carried through every fiber of his being causing him to physically scream out and convulse. When the fiery pain finally stopped, Ken lay motionless on the ground, gasping for air. 

'Don't do that again!' Osamu yelled aggressively, causing the headache in Ken's head to increase three fold. 

Osamu continued to send commands to the ring through his invisible keypad, a scowl etched onto his features. 

Unwillingly, Ken stood up, to face Yolei who had wisely taken that free moment to distance herself from him. In a glint of light coming from the window, where the clouds had parted to let a beam of moonlight shine through, she caught sight of the ring. But before anything else could come to mind, someone shoved her out of Ken's path, and knocked him hard, over the head. The Indigo-haired boy fell limply to the ground, out cold. Her eyes fell upon his double, his haphazard hair falling around his face. Throwing the steel sword to the ground, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Yolei seethed, "You could have killed him!"

"He was going to rape you!" Ken yelled back, incredulously. 

"Will he be alright?"

The troubled boy sighed, "I didn't cause any damage if that's what you mean, but if we don't get that ring off him, he won't be."

Yolei kneeled by her boyfriends' side, "How did he get out of the chair? TK tied those ropes so tight, not even a snake could have wriggled free."

Ken kneeled down next to her, a deep scowl on his face, "Look at his hands and wrists."

Yolei squinted through the darkness and when Ken produced a small pen torch from his pocket, she gasped when she saw rough, crimson grazes and gashes in her Ken's delicate, pale skin. 

"Osamu must have forced him to escape the ropes. I'm just glad that those kinds of rings don't allow him to feel pain and remember all this." He muttered. 

Yolei's brows knitted together, "But he does feel pain, at least I think he does. When I kicked him in the - well, the groin, he didn't even flinch, but then when he rolled off me, he started screaming in pain and shaking like he was having a fit. What was that all about?"

"I don't know." Ken looked up and only now realized how close he was to Yolei. She could have sworn he blushed as he pulled away and stood up. "We should tie him up again."

Yolei hesitated, then pressed on, "What happened to her?"

His head snapped up at Yolei as she asked the question. "I don't want to talk about it." He stated firmly. 

"I'm sorry, I just thought it would help to talk-"

"Well it doesn't okay! So just drop it." He growled and went back to lifting the unconscious Ken and dumping him back into his chair.

Yolei moved over to the chair and helped him with the ropes. She tried to make eye contact with him, but he refused to meet her gaze. "What happened to him that he became what he is?"

This question was too much for him to ignore, "What do you mean?"

"Why is Osamu like he is?"

"It's a long story, and I don't-"

"Want to talk about it." Yolei growled, and then sighed, "He didn't want to talk about anything either." She said indicating to the limp form in the chair. 

"What-?"

"About seven years ago, Ken was known as the Digimon Emperor back in our Digital world, and in our real world, he was know as the boy genius, Ken Ichijouji. Loved by everyone, girls, reporters, everyone. He was cruel and horrible as the Emperor, and when he ran away from home to be in the Digital World full time we knew we had to stop him. He put up Control Spires and Dark Rings. We eventually stopped him, with the help of Wormmon, who sacrificed his life for Ken. We found out that he was like he was because of his brother, Sam, who had died a few years earlier, when he was about nine. He put all his attention into his studies and wanted to become Sam for his parents. He was infected with this thing called a Dark Spore, which made him really smart and very athletic. It also fed off the darkness in his soul, making him the Emperor. When he realized that the Digital world was not a game like he thought, he felt really guilty for what he did and didn't want to be apart of our group. It took a while for us to accept him and we all became good friends. Even after all that, and when we started to date, it took a lot for him to really talk to me about his feelings. Still does. So what's Osamu's excuse for being the way he is?"

Ken nodded at her, "Your friends told me some of that story before we left your world." He sighed and tightened Ken's ropes. "Well, Osamu was the favorite, genius son. I was pretty much passed over all the time, but I made friends and did the best I could at school. Although I did get jealous of my brother at times, I tried not to let it get to me too much. Then one day, I was called as a Chosen Child. My brother was furious about it. He didn't think that I deserved it, but that it was a mistake and the Digivice was meant for him. We ended up in the Digital world together and we were both infected with the Dark Seeds. 

"Mine didn't have too much affect on me, but Osamu became even smarter and even better at sports and well, everything he did. Eventually he couldn't take the pressure of my parents and reporters on him, including the pressure he put on himself. He took his copied Digivice and modified it before running away from the real world and becoming the Kaiser. He put up Dark Towers and Black rings everywhere. He became too strong for us to defeat alone, so we had no choice but to let him have the Digital world. But Kouen went to the Digital world and tried to make him see that what he was doing was wrong. He listened to her, he always did. He loves her you see. Anyway, he came back with her, but there was something different about both of them and their relationship was just never the same afterwards. Then a few months later they grew apart and Osamu began taking over the real world and went back to taking over the Digital world. 

"He began capturing people, putting people in prison and making Black Rings for them. Creating an army of Snipers. He went crazy, the Seed completely took over his mind and when he locked our parents away as well as my friends, I knew I had to do something drastic. I had to put an end to it all. I had to put an end to him."

"You tried to kill him." Yolei breathed. 

"You will pay for that dear brother!"

Yolei and Ken both spun their heads looking wide-eyed at the now awake figure in the chair. He was grinning sadistically, a crazed glint in his usually kind eyes.

"Why are you controlling him? I thought it was me you wanted to control and punish!" Ken yelled angrily. 

The possessed looking Ken threw back his head in laughter, "I do! Don't you see I'm punishing you through him? The ring he is wearing, is a new kind. I control him, while he knows what is going on, but can't stop himself. This is your fault! Whatever he does against his will, is your fault!"

"You bastard!"

"Now now, Ototo-chan, language!"

"You're sick!" Yolei spat.

"Ah, Yolei, is it?" He turned his head to look at her, then back to Ken; "Your one is doing quite well as my whore-"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU SICK-"

"You know us too well. You are right; I would never touch something so unrefined and she would never let me touch her anyway, so I put her in a hole of a prison cell, where she is wasting away! You will never see her again!"

At this point rage blinded Ken and he lunged at the person in the chair, ready to attack him, but Yolei held him back, "NO! Don't hurt him!"

Throwing his head back to laugh again, "That's right Ken, you can't touch me for fear of hurting him! You failed at killing me, just like you fail at everything! If you want to stop all this, I suggest you sacrifice yourself to me." 

~~~~****~~~~

"You can't be serious." Yolei sighed as she paced the office. 

"I have no other choice." Ken sighed.

By this time everyone was awake and sitting in the office, with the exception of Shinsei. They had heard the noise and had come to investigate. Ken and Yolei had explained what had gone on and what Osamu had said. 

"You're not actually seriously considering this are you Ken?" Daisuke asked, "You can't Ken!"

"What else am I supposed to do?" Ken growled. 

Kouen got up silently and crossed the room to exit through the door. They watched her walk over to the workshop, pick up a hammer and move over to where Ken was sitting and he looked up at her with an odd expression. Without a word, she raised the hammer up over his head and before they could react to what she was doing, she had brought it down hard on the back of his neck. All of them ran out to stare in shock at Ken and then slowly to Kouen. In a fraction of a second, the ring shattered and disappeared. Ken slumped forwards off the chair and the group ran to his aid. 

Kouen walked up to Ken who was standing in the door way and handed him the hammer, "We get some rest, in the morning we think of a plan and then maybe this nightmare will be over. That's what you're supposed to do." Without waiting for a reply she turned on her heel and walked back to her room. 

~~~~****~~~~

Osamu ripped the visor off his head and threw it across the room. "How are they managing to break those rings so easily?" he roared. He fell back into his throne and sighed, "Kouen." He rubbed his eyes and muttered to himself, "I must get her back. She knows too much and I need her." 

"Master?" one of the Snipers, asked timidly, "Is there something wrong?"

Osamu glared at the Sniper, "Get out." He hissed. 

"Sir, what about Kouen, should we-?"

"I SAID GET OUT!" he lashed his whip at the Sniper as he retreated from the room. Breathing hard, the Kaiser leaned his head back and mumbled, "This is far from over. In fact, this is just the beginning."

----~~~~----

Nic: Okay, so it's a short chapter. But I had to leave it there otherwise it would be too long and really, re-writing this chapter was one of the hardest ones. 

Ken: But now you are free to write freely.

Nic: Indeed!

Osamu: Which means more work for us.  
  
Kouen: Yup, only, she has everything planned already. 

Wormmon: How come this chapter was so hard?

Nic: Because I had to remember everything I have said and haven't said yet. So there was a lot of going back and reading other chapters.

Kaiser: You have a lot of things to answer.

Nic: I know, I can't wait!

Nic: (Updated AN). Thanks for the reviews everyone, I'm glad you like what's going on. And I also hope you are all reading Akino Ame's 'With Broken Wings' 'cause it's brilliant!


	6. Hello

"Doppelgangland"

6. 'Hello'

_"I know you think that _

_I shouldn't still love you_

_Or tell you that,_

_But if I didn't say it, _

_Well I'd still have felt it_

_Where's the sense in that?_

_I promise I'm not trying to make_

_Your life harder or return to _

_Where we were._

_But I will go down with this ship_

_And I won't put my hands up and surrender_

_There will be no white flag above my door,_

_I'm in love and always will be."_

_~ 'White flag' Dido_

"Where were you last night Yamato?" Hikari suddenly asked savagely. 

The Blond dropped his toast and stared at her across the table, "I fell asleep okay." He said quietly but still looking her in the eyes, as if challenging her to argue.

She cocked her head to the side, "How could you-?"

"Because I'm tired Hikari!" Yamato burst, he had been looking for this window for a while now. There were a few things he needed to get off his chest, "I'm out there every night, dressed in that sick Sniper uniform, pretending I'm one of them just so I can find more lost or run-away kids to bring back to this hell hole! I'm sorry I wasn't more aware of what was going on in here or that no one else offered to stay up watching him!"

Everyone hung their heads, ashamed of not staying up to watch their friend. 

Hikari sighed, "I'm sorry Yamato, I shouldn't have – it's not your fault."

He shrugged and brought his attention back to his toast.

Yolei looked across at Ken, whose head was conveniently bowed, so he didn't have to meet her gaze. He felt extremely mortified of his actions last night and wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but at this table eating breakfast with everyone. Yolei stretched her hand across the table and rested it on his. His eyes flickered up to look at her and to his amazement she smiled reassuringly.   
"It's okay Ken." She said softly and his heart seemed less heavy. 

Kouen suddenly got up from the table and tossed her loose curly hair over her shoulder. She tied it back in a low pony tail and stated, "I'm going to my apartment," she tugged at the baggy jeans and sweatshirt that she had dressed in the night before, "to get some of my things."

Yamato and Ken looked up with expressions of concern and suspicion, "Why?" they chorused. 

"Sora's clothes are okay for now, but I need my own clothes and personal things." She looked down at their faces and rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine."

"Osamu will have sent Snipers after you." Ken stated, rising to challenge her. 

His double nodded and took his hand away from Yolei, "He saw everything through me remember. He saw that you are here and from what Yolei and the others have told me, that's not a good thing."

"Does that mean," Cody asked swiftly, "that Osamu knows where we are?"

Doppel-Ken shook his head, "No, this place looks like our last base, there are so many abandoned warehouses and factories around here that he wouldn't bother searching all of them. Not when he can concentrate his efforts on more important things." He added bitterly, "We are not a threat to him anymore."

"Some how I don't think that's so true." TK muttered and looked up when Kouen folded her arms and huffed. 

"Look," she said coolly, "I'm not asking for your permission, I'm telling you I'm doing this. Besides, Osamu would not send Snipers after me remember? And I doubt he's in any condition to come after me on his own."

Without another word, she turned and left the warehouse.

All the new members at the table turned to Ken and Yamato. 

"Surely if Osamu did attack her at her apartment-?" Ken shaking his head interrupted Kari.

"For one thing my brother would never attack her and for another, even if he did, she could kill him with hear bare hands."

Their eyes widened, and Yamato filled in the blank, "She's highly trained in many different types of martial arts. Her father trained her when she was just a child and over the years she just got better and better. She even trained Osamu to fight and when this war started Iori, Ken and her started training us." His eyes fell to his feet, "That is, before all of the – well, before Osamu kidnapped her."

"Osamu kidnapped her and killed Iori?" Yolei asked tactlessly, she didn't seem to care too much because she, like the others, was interested in hearing what had happened and where all the other Chosen Children were.

Ken and Yamato looked at her sharply and Ken ran his hands through his hair and stalked away to the office, which was only a small distance away from the odd table in the middle of the cafeteria.

"I think we should start trying to figure out how to get you guys back home." Yamato stated after a pause and Daisuke looked up at him.

"I thought they were going to help us in the battle." 

"I don't know if that's a good idea Daisuke. I mean, they've already been through this sort of thing before and it's up to them if they-"

"All the more reason for them to stay and help us!" Daisuke protested.

"He has a point." Davis nodded and stood up and looked at the rest of the Digidestined. 

 Ken looked at his best friend and nodded, "I know I can be a big help in this. What about the rest of you?" he asked looking round at them.

They nodded and looked over at their Digimon, who nodded too. 

"Well, then you better go talk to Shinsei." Hikari said signaling for them to follow her to the end room of the warehouse. 

~~~~****~~~~

Kouen turned the keys in the door of her apartment and opened the door very slowly. Her head peered in and she took the keys out again and set them on the dresser next to the door, where a cracked mirror split her image in two. She took a deep breath and shut the door behind her. 

She slipped off her sandals and left them by the door. She stepped over a knocked over pot plant that had died a while ago. She made her way towards the lounge area and picked up a pale green sweater with a hood. She clutched it in her hands and brought it to her face, absorbing the scent of it. 

Her mind suddenly wandered to a few years back, when her hair was shorter and bounced around her shoulders. It blew in the cool breeze and she remembered the setting sun on her face. Osamu was next to her, holding her close to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and dangled her feet over the bridge. Her thin white skirt blew about her ankles and she shivered. Osamu pulled her even closer and rubbed her arms. Then suddenly, he pulled away from her and pulled off his pale green sweater. "Here." He offered it to her; "It'll keep you warm."  

She grinned, "But you'll get cold." She pulled on the sweater and wrapped herself in his arms again.

"I have my fire right here to keep me warm." He smiled and kissed the top of her head, "I love you Kouen, I hope you know that."

She turned and looked up at him. She stared into his violet eyes and felt his warmth, "I do Osamu, and I hope you know that I will always love you."

Kouen pulled herself out of her revere and tried to put the sweater back on the couch, but decided to take it to her room instead. There she pulled out a large gym bag and carefully folded the sweater and placed it in the bottom of the bag, before filling it with her clothes. Then she crossed her room, not bothering to pick up the turned over chair and the comforter spilling onto the floor. She picked up a few photo frames, one of which contained a picture of a middle-aged man with light red hair, almost brown and beginning to gray. She placed it carefully into the bag and then picked up another silver frame, this one containing three people in it. A young Ken, Osamu and Kouen. Her eyes became teary as she stared at the three happy, carefree faces looking up at her. 

"That was one of your favorite pictures of us."

She wheeled around and saw the Kaiser standing in the doorframe. "Hikari took it remember?"

Her face was blank and so was her mind. She didn't know what to do or say. Finally her mouth began to work again, "I didn't hear you come in."

"I was hoping you wouldn't." he stated, "You would have run away again." He glanced at the messy room around him and then back at her face. 

"You didn't give me much choice." She whispered bitterly. 

"I gave you the choice to live with me-"

"You mean side with you!" she snapped, "Admit it Osamu, you wanted to own me. In the end it wasn't love anymore, it was obsession!"

"That's not true!" he yelled and anyone else would have flinched, but they had been here before.

"Yes it is Osamu! Back before the Digital world and you became this monster! You wanted me to stay how I was, you didn't want me to change, but I was growing up Osamu! But growing up didn't mean that I would change my feelings for you!" 

"Really?" he snarled, "So that is why you and Yamato became so close?"

"Oh for God's sake! How many times must I tell you, we were just good friends?"

"I know that he feels more than just friendship for you Kouen!" Osamu retorted. 

  "Well, you forget that I didn't! I loved you Osamu! And I still do! But we can never be together. Not anymore. Not after…not after what you did to me."

Osamu's demeanor suddenly became soft and ashamed. He hung his head and did not look at her; "I did what I had to do."

"No, you did what you wanted to do. You care more about taking over the worlds than you will ever care about me." She hissed. 

His head snapped up and his eyes were wide "No Kouen! Never-!"

"Really? Then give this up! Take off that Kaiser uniform and leave your brother alone! He's done nothing to you-!"

"Nothing? You call trying to kill me nothing?"

"I hate to sound immature, but you tried to kill him first, just because you were passed over. There was something other than blowing bubbles that he was good at and you wanted to take it away, because you were jealous." She shook her head and gave an empty laugh, "It's ironic you know? All the while he was jealous of you because everyone loved you and you could do everything he couldn't and the one thing you can't do and he can, makes you seethe with anger and hate. I will never understand that."

She shifted her bag on her shoulder and made to walk past him. 

He pulled her arm and made her spin around to face him; "I'm not letting you go. I need you."

"Why? Because you love me, or because you want to use me again?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Both." He said quietly and she ripped her arm from his grip.

"You're sick." She spat and when he made to grab her again she pulled out a Sai from the back of her jeans. She pointed the tip of the small weapon under his chin, "Touch me ever again, and I'll succeed where Ken failed."

He looked from the weapon to her eyes and grinned wickedly, looking much more like the Kaiser now, "You wouldn't. You couldn't, you said it yourself, you love me."

She sighed and placed the weapon back in her jeans, the handle hooking on the outside, "That is my only weakness Osamu, but one day, you will be sorry when it becomes my strength." 

He frowned at her, not understanding the threat in her words and watched her leave, taking her keys with her and not bothering to lock behind her. 

He stood in the semi-dark room, where the curtains were only half-open silent and still. Then suddenly he began screaming and cursing and clutching his head in his hands, doubling up and crying. He began thrashing around the room and picking up various things and throwing them around the room. 

He pulled at his hair and fell to his knees, breathing heavily and shaking. He looked up with fear in his eyes and asked himself over and over again, "What have I done? Am I losing my mind? What have I done?"

~~~~****~~~~ 

Kouen drove her black van down the ramp to the underground parking of the warehouse. She turned off the ignition and her head lights and grabbed her bag from the passenger seat. She slid out the van, slammed the door closed and locked it. She moved towards the elevator and after pressing the button, she shuddered and looked up instinctively. 

The elevator doors opened and she tore her eyes away from the entrance of the parking lot and stepped in. 

When she stepped out Ken greeted her as well as Yolei. 

Her eyes flickered to the door they were standing outside and she shook her head. "Hikari is making you talk to Shinsei? Why?"

"She says we have to, to find out if we really should help in this battle." Cody answered. 

"Are you alright?" Ken asked her kindly and she turned to him to smile, but it caused her an enormous effort. 

"I'll be fine." She began walking to her room when Ken joined her. 

"I have this odd feeling I should know you Kouen." He confessed quietly to her. 

She turned to him and raised her eyebrows, "Is there a double of me in your world?"

"I don't know. If there is, I've never met her." He looked up suddenly, "When did you meet Osamu and Ken?" the sentence sounded odd in his head when he had practiced it, but even more odd saying it.

"When he was about twelve and Ken was about eight, nine." She signaled for him to sit with her on a crate. 

"How did you meet?" Ken asked hesitantly, already aware of what the answer might be. 

"It was the day they almost died." 

Ken looked sharply at her and she continued, "I was sitting on a bench waiting for a bus when I noticed two people arguing in the street as they were crossing it. Osamu was muttering something and Ken had yelled that he would not move another step until Osamu gave something back to him. Then suddenly, a car came speeding around the corner and looked as though it was going to hit Ken. Osamu dived forwards to knock Ken out of the way and they both rolled to the pavement on the other side."

"Neither of them was hit?" Ken asked heartily. 

She shook her head, "It was close though and I ran across the street to see if they were okay. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but we just started talking and I offered to take them to get coffee or something sugary for the shock. We had been friends ever since."

Ken sat stationary for a few moments and sighed heavily. 

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry that you didn't grow up with him."

"Me too." Ken said softly, "And I'm sorry for the price I paid for it too."

"You can make up for it you know. By helping us here. I mean, you've been there, you can help us defeat him." 

He looked up at her green eyes and nodded with hesitation, "I just hope I can, I mean, this Kaiser is – well, he's just so much more powerful than I ever was. If it wasn't for-" he broke off when Kouen suddenly went stiff. He frowned at her and she made a low growling noise in her throat. 

In a flash, she had jumped off the crate and was sniffing the air. 

Ken looked around nervously and then back at her, "Uh, Kouen?"

But she either did not hear him or ignored him. Her eyes darted from one area of the warehouse to the next and Ken saw in a split second that her eyes were not green anymore, but a deep red/brown. Then suddenly she began to scream an awful sound, a mix between a wounded animal and a banshee. 

"HELP!" Ken screamed desperately, "SOMEBODY HELP ME! KOUEN'S SICK!"

Everyone turned to the scene and clearly did not need Ken's yells to attract their attention, for Kouen had done that fine on her own. 

Yamato looked up onto the second floor and began yelling, "Akino Ame!" and a young teenage girl with a long brown pony tail emerged from her room. She adjusted her glasses on her nose and looked down at him, then at Kouen and comprehension dawned on her face. 

She nodded and slid down a fireman's pole to her left. As she reached the ground she adjusted her emerald green blouse and tugged at her blue jeans, which had twisted on her way down the pole. 

Everyone watched her run past them and out the door, while Yamato and Ken ran to the aid of Kouen, who was now a bundled on the ground, shaking. 

Outside, Akino was looking left and right and finally found Mike and Davis who were standing at the remains of a Dark Tower which suddenly burst into data and vanished. She looked stricken at the site of Flamedramon, "Kouen is back!" she yelled at Mike. 

His eyes widened and he quickly yelled to Flamedramon to devolve. Without question the digimon did so and then made his way to Davis. 

"Did I do something wrong Davis?" Demiveemon asked.

Before answering Davis glanced at Akino and Mike, "Did we do something wrong?"

"No," Mike admitted, "I did, I wasn't looking out for her. I didn't think she would pick up her van, I thought she would walk back. But she loves that van, so I should have known."

Davis picked up his digimon and they all ran back into the warehouse to find Kouen sitting up against a crate and gasping for air, while Ken offered her some water and Yamato rubbed her shoulders. Davis noticed his best friend standing a small distance away looking chalk white. He moved over to Ken, "What happened?"

"Kouen just went nuts, I'm really not to sure."

Viciously, Ken turned to the group of doubles and yelled, "No one digivolves their partner here! If there is need for it, give us a warning first, otherwise it is forbidden!"

They glanced at each other and then back to Ken, who had turned back to Kouen and gotten up off the floor. "I thought you had that under control." He spat at her. 

She looked up with narrow eyes and hissed, "I never had it under my control, it was always under _his_!"

She picked herself up off the ground and pushed Yamato away, "I'm going to go change." She muttered and left them all in stunned silence. 

Hikari cleared her throat to get the attention of the doubles standing outside Shinsei's door, "Davis, it's your turn." And she guided him into the room quickly, before he could ask questions and then shut it behind her.

Yolei leaned over to Hikari, "What just happened here?"

"I'm not the one to tell you." She stated firmly, "If Kouen wants to tell you, then she will, but otherwise, I suggest you don't mention it to either her or Ken."

The group glanced at Ken in the far end of the warehouse and then back to each other, to mutter about what had just happened, but Ken, who was a slight distance away from the group continued to stare at his doppelganger. 

He walked into the office and began to pace the room, running his hands through his messy hair and finally sat down at the desk. 

Ken frowned deeply at the rest of the people in the warehouse, there were some things he would like answered. Things he felt were very important before he decided to help them. For starters, he would like to know where exactly all the older Chosen Children were and what had happened to the other Chosen, as well as how Iori had died. He wanted desperately to know what was wrong with Kouen and most of all, he wanted to know how this Ken in this world, ticked. He noticed that his double was rather dark and had an easy temper. This disturbed him a little, for it reminded him of him self when he was slowly changing into the Emperor. He reasoned with himself that this Ken had obviously had a tough life and that all his feelings and pressures were bound to effect him, but to what degree? He remembered that this Ken too had a Dark Seed much like his own Dark Spore and so did Osamu. Did this mean that if Ken were to snap and loose himself in his own negativity, that the Digital world, and even possibly the real world would have two Kaisers to contend with? 

He sighed deeply and felt Hikari touch him on the shoulder, "It's your turn." She stated and showed him the door to Shinsei's room.  

Ken slowly walked to the middle of the room, where the young girl sat upon a chair. The room was dimly lit with candles and Ken smelt the distinct smell of sweet incense. He sat in the chair opposite the girl feeling extremely uncomfortable. She looked up very slowly at him and he shivered as her powerful gaze met his eyes. 

"You." She stated as if telling Ken who he was. He glanced around himself with his eyes and then looked at her again. 

"Yes?" he asked.  

"You are the answer." Ken felt himself shiver again, he could not help it, her voice seemed to vibrate with an intense power that he didn't understand, or didn't want to understand, and it seemed to penetrate his very soul. 

"The answer?"

"You have seen it before." 

Ken felt his eyes lock with hers and although he could have easily looked else where, he felt he needed to look into her eyes. "I've seen what before?"

"The Darkness." She whispered and leaned closer to him; "You have been where the Kaiser is. You were him once."

"Yes." Ken whispered back. 

"You have seen it all." She sat back and surveyed him.

Ken frowned, "No, I was never this bad. I never went this far."

"You were stopped." 

"Yes, by my partner-"

"By fate. Destiny is Fate's twin sister, though they seem similar, they are different. What it all comes down to is the question, 'What if?' Am I right?"

Ken paused and shifted in his seat, she had seemed to read his mind. "How did-?"

"You think it everyday. 'What if Sam had not died?' 'What if I had never become the Emperor?' 'What if Wormmon had never made his sacrifice?'"

Ken nodded and hung his head, but suddenly felt empty and looked up again into her pale blue eyes.

"This is your 'What if' world Ken. Though, it cannot be said for definite whether or not all that has happened here, would have taken place in your world, it is a close comparison." She suddenly looked away from him and nodded, "You can go now. Like the others, you will be able to stay and help us, but you will be the answer."

Ken furrowed his brow further, "I don't understand. What do you mean? I'm the answer? Do you mean that because I've been where the Kaiser is now that I can help?"

She slowly turned back to him, "You must ask yourself if you are willing to admit that you are able to help, Ken. Your memories are clearer now are they not?"

Ken lifted his head and nodded. He got up and left the room. 

Davis and Yolei came up to him immediately, "What did she say to you?" Davis asked. 

"You were in there a lot longer than we were." Yolei stated, "All she did with us is nod her head and send us out again."

Ken opened his mouth to speak to them, to tell them what she had said, but decided not to instead. He felt slightly ashamed and selfish with the information. He shrugged, "She sort of just nodded at me too," he lied. 

He turned and spotted Kouen sitting at the computer which Ken had recently been glaring at. He decided to go talk to her and broke away from his group of friends who were now chatting amongst themselves about the up coming battle. 

As he walked closer, he noticed that she had changed her clothes and was now wearing a sandy coloured gypsy top with a long white skirt. Her feet had no shoes on and he noticed they were crossed at the ankles. Her hair had been tied back again in the long braid. 

He sat down quietly next to her and asked, "Are you okay?"

She turned to him and attempted a smile. "I think so." She turned back to the computer and Ken saw that she was looking at what appeared to be the Digital Gate. 

"What are you doing?"

She took a deep breath, "I'm trying to figure out how Osamu changed the gate, but he's a genius and my computer skills are no where near Koushirou's." she sighed again and put her head in her hand, "I wish he was here right now."

"What happened to him?" Ken asked tentatively.

"Well," she pinched her nose between her eyes to chase away the headache coming on, "It was about a year ago. Maybe more, maybe less, I don't really remember, but I guess I should go back to the beginning before I go on. 

"You see about a year ago, after Osamu began taking over Japan successfully, he showed up at my apartment in the middle of the night. I knew that he was coming for me one day and so had packed a bag ready to leave on a plane for New York the next morning. I'm assuming he found out about this plan and decided to stop me. I heard knocking at my door and so went to investigate and I saw him standing there outside dressed in, not his Kaiser uniform, but his own clothes. Like a fool, I thought he had changed back and he was my Osamu again, so I let him in and told him to sit down on the couch. 

"He looked cold and confused and when I went to get him some tea, he took off his sweater and hung it on the couch, saying that I must keep it, to remember."

"To remember what?" Ken asked.

"Him." She looked down at her hands, "But when he had done that, I saw his uniform under his shirt and knew that he was trying to fool me into thinking he was Osamu again. I told him to get out and well, we began to fight. The problem was, I taught him everything he knew about fighting and we were an equal match for each other. Where he struck, I blocked, where I kicked, he defended. Eventually it was a case of whom would give up first and then he tried to play the Osamu bit again, but I knew it was a game to him now. But the site of him, was just enough to distract my defenses long enough for him to get a Black Ring on my ankle. 

"He instructed me not to show anyone the ring and that I must not leave Japan, but go re-join his brother in the Resistance. It was a command that I could not disobey. After he had left, it was as if I had not seen him, as if we had not fought and I grabbed my bag and joined Ken at the old factory. He welcomed my help but I had no idea that I was acting as a spy for Osamu. I would go to the Base in the nights and inform him of every plan they had and where exactly they were located. All the while, I was acting normally, and helping the resistance fighters by training them and organizing plans with them. I had no idea what Osamu was doing. The ring was designed especially for me, you see, and it would block out all my missions for Osamu.    

"Anyway, one day Osamu stormed the factory. There were hundreds of Snipers, it was a slaughter. People were killed and taken prisoner and most of the Chosen were taken. Jyou was taken as his personal doctor. Koushirou was taken for his expertise in the Digital world, most of the other older Chosen where used as more Snipers. Takeru and Miyako are in a prison in the dungeon."

Ken looked into her face debating with himself whether he should ask or not, then decided to plunge on, "What happened to Iori?"

She turned away from him; "There is a reason his army are called 'Snipers'. They are trained to kill, they carry guns and they use them well. Osamu, himself, stormed the factory with them, with two intentions; to kill Yamato and to kidnap me. He ordered a Sniper to give him his gun and he took aim at Yamato upon Shadowstingmon's back-" 

"Stingmon?" Ken blurted out, "Why – what -?"

"Osamu had taken most of the Chosen Children's Digimon and used them for his own mission. He purposefully used Ken's Digimon to do the most damage as a slap in the face.

"So Osamu took aim at Yamato's back. He had been fighting a Sniper with his bare hands and did not see what was going on. I was too far to warn him, though I screamed to him, but he didn't hear. Iori did though and he ran to Yamato's aid. He dived in front of the bullet intended for Yamato. It went straight though his heart. He died almost instantly." She paused to catch her breath, "I tried to get to him, but Osamu grabbed me and retreated, not before breaking the ring on my ankle, letting me have every image and memory of everything I had done for him. He told Ken that I had betrayed him, that I had used Ken and that I never cared about him, but that I was going to join Osamu at his Base and be his queen." She closed her eyes; "I'll never forget the betrayed look on Ken's face."

"It's not your fault, you know." Ken said quietly. 

She looked up at him; "Iori's death was noble but unnecessary. Not matter what anyone says, I know his death was my fault."

"How can you think-?"

"Because either way that bullet was going to kill someone. Originally it was for Yamato, who is a marked man just for loving me."

Ken stared at her for a long while and then felt a sick sensation form in his gut. He did not want to think of his brother in this light, but he reminded himself that this was not _his brother. A sharp pang struck his heart again as a small voice told him that it could easily be. Just like Shinsei had told him, this was his 'What if' world, which could be a window into what would have happened if Sam had not died. _

He exhaled deeply, "He's obsessed with you."

She nodded dully and look up at the ceiling; "This is all my fault. But I couldn't – not after he – how could I?"

"Kouen?" Ken asked gently, "What are you-?"

He broke off when he saw his double walk into the room. 

Ken walked past them and looked down at Kouen with a mixture of longing and disgust. He made to leave, but Ken stood up and said, "I'll leave you two alone, you clearly need to talk." And with that he left, closing the door behind him.

Ken joined his friends and their Digimon and informed them of what Kouen had just told him. 

However in the office nothing was being said. A steely silence pulsed through the room until it left their ears ringing. Finally Kouen looked up into his face and said, "Look, Ken, I never-"

"I don't want to talk about this now." He hissed and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.  

They all watched as Ken stormed into the dojo and closed the door behind him. 

From the group, Ken turned to the office and saw through the window that Kouen had dissolved into tears. She had her head in her hands and was leaning on the desk, her shoulders shaking with sobs. 

Yamato had seen too and went to go comfort her. Ken had the strangest feeling that Yamato was making a mistake in doing this and he was right. He watched as Yamato made to wrap his arms around her, but she stood up forcefully from her seat and pushed him bodily away from her. Then she turned and ran out the room, straight to her own room. 

Yamato growled and picked up a file from the desk and threw it across the room. 

The group felt very uncomfortable in the middle of the warehouse. Hikari and Mike walked up to them and told them to get some lunch, that they would begin training in the evening. They nodded wordlessly and it was clear the subject of the feuds Kouen was causing was not to be touched upon, though Ken had the distinct impression that something had been left out of Kouen's story, something that had to do with what had happened to her earlier. 

~~~~****~~~~

Osamu stormed down the corridor with such a profound fury that no Sniper dared to get in his way. He stepped into the monitor room and winced at the pain in his chest again. 

He sat down in his throne and was still for a long while before he suddenly looked up with a resolved face. "I need my weapon, I haven't perfected it yet." He muttered and began typing furiously on his keyboard. "Ken," he mumbled, "I need to use Ken. Which works fine for me, I wouldn't mind torturing him until he didn't know who he was anymore. The problem is finding him."

He continued to mutter to himself, "She will be sorry she took sides with him and he will be sorry he was ever…" A look of sheer madness glazed over the Kaisers eyes as the room became darker with the setting sun.

----~~~~----

Kaiser: What a crap way to end the chapter.

Nic: I couldn't think of a cliffhanger for this one, so this will have to do. Besides if I had used the cliffhanger that I wanted to use, the rest of the story would have been ruined. I even wanted to put off the speech about how Iori died till later, but the time was right and I couldn't avoid it anymore.

Ken: There are still a lot of unanswered things, like for one, what happened to Kouen?

Osamu: Well; now, she can't tell you that, but it's hectic.

Kouen: Tell me about it.

Wormmon: I'm evil in this?

Osamu: Don't feel alone.

Wormmon: I also thought I was dead.

Nic: Well, not evil Wormmon, just under Kaiser's control and Ken thinks of Wormmon as dead because he is under the Kaiser's control and is as good as dead anyway. 

Ken: I'm guessing, 'on to the next chapter'?

Nic: Yup, but first, big thank you to Akino Ame for all her help with this story so far. She's such an inspiration!

Nic: (Updated AN) Sorry this is a day late but I have been having trouble with my comp and I was really busy yesterday too. I promise next Saturday the next chapter will be up.


	7. Choices

"Doppelgangland"

7. 'Choices'

_"She wishes she was a dancer_

_And that she never hears of cancer,_

_She wishes God would give her some answers_

_And make her feel beautiful._

_I remember feeling low_

_ And I remember losing hope _

_And I remember all the feelings_

_And the day they stopped._

_We are, we are all innocent,_

_We are all innocent, we are, we are."_

"Have you noticed something about these Chosen Children?" Cody said suddenly as they made their way towards one of the many rooms in the warehouse, this one being the dojo. 

"Other than the fact that they aren't children anymore?" Davis muttered sarcastically, Yolei hit him upside the head. 

"What about them?" TK prompted.

"Well," Cody went on tentatively, glancing at the back of Ken's head and then turning to the others, "well, it's just that, the Kaiser succeeded."

"What do you mean?" Kari asked. 

Again Cody looked cautiously at the back of Ken's head, but the young man seemed either to be ignoring the conversation or listening hard without looking like he was doing so. Cody plunged on; "Osamu managed to tear the Chosen apart, that's what Ken's main ambition was when he was the Emperor. Somehow this Kaiser has managed to do that, in a way he's won."

To everyone's surprise, Ken spun around and looked directly into Cody's face, "For your information Cody, tearing the Digidestined apart was not my sole ambition as the Emperor, it was just one of them and for another thing, the Kaiser in this world has not won. He will have won when we all give up and stop fighting." Ken turned around again and began walking towards the room, then added, "These Chosen maybe divided but they are still fighting for one cause and that is what keeps them together and gives them hope of wining."

The group was still standing, staring at Ken's retreating form when they glanced at each other and then began to follow him. 

"He's right you know." Yolei stated and Davis nodded in agreement. 

"I was just making an observation." Cody rasped, slightly put out by Ken's outburst. 

"I know Cody, but I guess Ken is still sensitive about being the Emperor, especially now, in this world." TK said, patting Cody on the shoulder.  

They entered the dojo and looked around. A large blue mat was in the center of the room and on the sides were two heavy bags, three ropes and a large shelf with various weapons on it, ranging from swords to machetes, from Sais to daggers. Cody immediately walked over to the shelf and picked up a Kendo stick and began warming up with it. 

When Kouen finally walked in everyone turned to her and Ken noticed that she had changed her clothes again. This time she was wearing tight black pants, trainers and a white top. 

"Kouen?" Yolei asked, stepping forward, "Why exactly do we have to learn how to fight?"

 "Well," she began, "have you noticed that we have no digimon to fight for us?"

"Yes," Yolei replied, "but we do. I mean, except for Ken, we all have our digimon with us. So can't they fight?"

"You are lucky to still have your digimon, but if the Kaiser were to take them from you, which he has proven is easy, then you will be left defenseless if you ever came up against a Sniper or even the Kaiser himself."

"Well, when you put it like that." She mumbled looking worriedly at Poromon as if he could be snatched from her in a second. 

"Of course, I'm only going to teach you the basics and how to defend yourself. Real training will be with Ken and Cody, as they would be the most useful in a fight. I just want to teach the rest of you defense."

Ken noticed that Kouen's demeanor was different. In this room she seemed to be far less feminine and soft, but rather strong, aggressive and hard. He also noticed that she did not refer to Osamu but rather the Kaiser, as if to remind herself that she was fighting a monster, and not her lover. 

Training went on for a few hours as everyone practiced to perfect their punches and their kicks and to increase the power behind them. Ken and Cody as Kouen had stated were the better fighters out of everyone and they decided to spar with each other for a an hour while Kouen taught the group about blocking. 

After about two hours, Kouen said that that was enough for the night and that they would continue sometime tomorrow, after she did some training with Ken and Cody. They gratefully nodded, bowed and left the room to shower and get a drink of water. 

Ken looked back and asked if Kouen was going to join them, but she shook her head and picked up a set of Sais. He nodded and closed the door behind him. 

~~~~****~~~~

The next morning the group found themselves in agony as they tried to eat their breakfast. Ken and Cody were fine but the strain of yesterday's training session seemed to have awoken their muscles with a harsh pain. Even though Davis was used to soccer training, he admitted that training to fight was somewhat different than training for soccer. 

Ken was leaning over his bowl of cereal deep in thought. He lifted his head and looked in the direction of the dojo. 

Hikari, Mike and Yamato joined them at the table and began to pull toast and boxes of cereal towards themselves. Ken did not seem to notice. 

"So how do you all feel?" Hikari asked with a repressed laugh. 

"Like Kouen tore my muscles from my skeleton and sewed them back on again." Yolei groaned. Kari gave a vigorous nod in agreement. 

Mike snorted, "Yeah, she tends to be pretty aggressive when it comes to fighting, but it's for the best. She's good though, I mean, she made fighters out of us."

"Where is she anyway?" Yamato asked looking around. 

"I think her and Ken are in there together." Daisuke stated as he sat down at the table. 

"Together? In the same room? _In the dojo no less?" Yamato exclaimed. _

"Looks that way." He mumbled as he crammed a piece of toast in his mouth. 

"Just like old times." Hikari sighed. 

"Only, they are at each other's throats in there rather than training." Daisuke said shaking his head. 

"But at least they are in the same room." Mike pointed out. 

Ken, who hadn't realized he had been staring at the room, tore his gaze away and looked back down at his cereal. He couldn't help but wonder what they were saying to each other in there. 

However what was being said, was nothing. Both of them had taken an area of the room and trained separately in it, trying to avoid the other's eyes. 

Unable to take anymore silence between them, Kouen turned and moved closer to where Ken was, on the pretences of putting away her Sais. When she heard that he had stopped pummeling the heavy bag, she turned to face him.

"I looked after them you know." She hung her head, "As much as I could have anyway."

"What are you talking about?" he barked. 

"Your parents. I would always check on them, see how they were, made sure they got enough food and weren't cold. I did the same with Miyako and Takeru, until he was made a Sniper." Finally she looked up into his eyes, but couldn't bare the coldness of them and looked down again, "I'm sorry Ken. I didn't know, I had no idea he was controlling me."

To her surprise, he sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair, "I know Kouen. It was just so easy to blame you, you know. Instead of blaming myself again."

She looked up and gave a flicker of a smile, "I guess we do that a lot don't we? Blame our selves. It's just, well, technically this is my fault. I should never – I mean I just keep thinking that maybe if I had stuck with him, but I couldn't, after he…"

"Kouen, somehow I have a feeling that this was going to happen whether you broke up with him or not." Ken sighed and looked out the window. 

She nodded and turned to the door, "Do you want to help me train the others after breakfast-?"

"Ken! Kouen!" Yamato came pelting into the room and they both looked sharply in his direction, "Come and see this!"

Glancing at each other, they ran out the room and stopped where the rest of the group was huddled. A small television set was sitting on top of a table next to the computer in the office. On the screen was a picture of a large group of people in the street. Some of them in the crowd had banners saying things like: 'Down with the Kaiser!' or 'We won't back down!' 

"Protesters." Daisuke growled. 

"Are they crazy?" Hikari asked exasperated. 

Ken leaned closer to the TV and then stood up straight again, "Well, it's not our group. It must be a different group of resistance fighters."

"But that's good isn't it?" Yolei asked feverishly. 

Ken shook his head, "No. There hasn't been an open act of rebellion against Osamu in two years. There was a time when people would openly protest against him, but it turned out to be a massacre. So many people died and were imprisoned." He looked back at the TV, "We should go down there and warn them, or stop them or something." 

"Good idea." Yamato nodded and made to walk out the room when Kouen grabbed his arm. He pulled it away, "I'm going Kouen." He stated firmly and she dropped her arm to her side, deciding to stay silent. 

"Lets go." Ken marched out the office and towards the elevator, "Kouen, you have your van again?"

She nodded and he pressed the down button. "Good, we'll go in that."

When they arrived at the scene, it was seemingly organized. Many people were grouped together, waving their banners and one man in front was talking to the news cameras. 

Ken looked around and then at the group behind him. "Okay, I'm going to go talk to that guy in the front there. He looks like he's the leader of all this."

Kouen, Yamato, Mike and the others all nodded and began talking to the people nearest them. 

"You really shouldn't be here, doing this." Yolei heard Hikari explain to a group of teenage boys; "The Kaiser will kill you or enslave you if he finds you doing this. You have to get out of here."

But the boys shook their heads wordlessly and turned away from her. 

It happened in a flash, Ken was heard yelling and the group turned as one to see that five tall men were restraining him. He was being forcefully dragged backwards into a truck. Mike's eyes went wide; "It's a set up!" 

Kouen cursed vehemently under her breath and ran to his aid along with everyone else behind her, but it was impossible. All the other people began blocking them and attacking them. "They're Snipers!" Davis heard Yamato yell and he looked at the nearest person, who was wearing a Black Ring. 

"Get out of here!" Kouen screamed while pushing a blond girl away from her, "Run!"

Those who were free to run did so and waited in the van. Ken opened the drive's side door and started up the car. He drove as close as he could get to those who were being buried by slaves and they gratefully scrambled into the back of the van. When everyone was in and accounted for, Ken took off at high speed and parked the van down in the parking lot under the warehouse. 

"No," Kouen moaned, "We should have known." 

They all stood around the warehouse now tending to their scratches and bruises. 

"How could we have?" Mike asked earnestly, "Osamu has never planned something like that. There must have been a good reason behind it."

"He's right," Daisuke nodded, "He wanted Ken specifically, otherwise all of us would have been taken, or killed even. He wants something."

"Isn't it possible that Osamu just wants to punish Ken for what he did?" Cody questioned. 

Kouen looked thoughtful and then opened her palm to reveal a scrunched up piece of yellow paper. When the group looked at her curiously, she answered, "That blond girl gave this to me before trying to take a swing at me."

She opened the paper and read what was written. Her eyes became narrow; "It's Osamu's handwriting." She tossed it at the group and when Daisuke caught it, she walked away to the dojo.

Daisuke read over it and then looked up grimly at the group, "I was right. He wanted Ken as a bargaining chip. Osamu wants Kouen to give herself up to Osamu in one hour or he kills Ken."

"What?" Yolei staggered, "Why wouldn't he just capture Kouen at that set up then?"

"Good question." Davis muttered looking at the room where she disappeared.

"Where are you going?" Yamato asked when he noticed Ken walking to the room.

But he said nothing and disappeared behind the door too.  

Kouen looked up at Ken as he approached but remained silent. 

"What's your plan?" he asked quietly. 

"I have no intention of giving myself up to Osamu, but there is no way I am going to let him hurt Ken. So I need your help."

"My help?" Ken asked incredulously.

"I have a spare Sniper uniform that you'll have to wear. You're the only one, apart from Cody that will be able to help me if we end up in a fight. And I would use Cody, but you will be helpful in two areas if you come with me. I'll explain later what I mean." She paused and looked at his face, "Are you in?"

He nodded and they marched out the room. 

They walked past the group, straight into Kouen's room and she opened a draw and threw a navy blue uniform at him along with a navy blue cap. "Tie your hair back and put that cap on low."

He nodded and began putting on the uniform, while Kouen slipped her set of Sais into the back of her pants. 

When Ken was dressed she turned to him; "You ready?"

He nodded and they left the room, walking to the elevator once more.

"Kouen!" Yamato yelled and the group stopped in front of her and Ken. "What are you doing?"

"There's no time to explain Yamato, but Ken and I are going to the base to rescue Ken." She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly at the confusing sentence and then looked into Yamato's blue eyes, "We'll be fine, trust me."

When the elevator stopped and opened its doors, they stepped in and said goodbye to the group.

They rushed over to the van and sped off at top speed, parking only a few blocks away and walking the rest of the way. 

"How are we going to get in?" Ken asked when they approached the Base.

"You will be at my side, just don't touch me or look at me. The Snipers are not allowed to do that to me, so I'm free to walk in and out of there. The disguise is for what we discussed in the van. When I give you the signal, that's when you move into action, okay?"

He nodded and they walked ahead. 

Kouen was right. The Snipers didn't even glance at her when they walked in the front door of the Base. When they made their way to the heart of the Base Ken looked around with a scowl. 

"Is it similar?" Kouen asked.

"It's exactly the same as my Base." He breathed, "That's probably how I knew how to get out of the arena and the dungeon." He added slightly shaken and then drew in a sharp breath as a sharp pain burned in his neck. 

"Are you okay?" 

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, "We're close the core. Which means we should be close to the monitor room." When she looked at him curiously he replied, "The Dark Spore in the back of my neck picks up on negative energies. The core of the Base is flowing with pure evil. I can feel it."

"I was hoping you would be able to help. You know everything about this Base, which means that you can help in our final plan in stopping Osamu." 

"I'll tell you as much as I know, but I'm not promising you anything." Ken turned to look in front of him again and she smiled.

"That's all I'm asking." She stopped and looked at a flight of stairs going down, "I think he would be down here."

And she led the way.  

~~~~****~~~~

Osamu brought the whip down again, ripping another piece of flesh from Ken's back, but the young man made no gasp of pain, only a grimace. "You're pathetic." He spat at Osamu and he felt the leather come down again. 

"Me? I'm not the one bound shirtless and helpless in a prison cell being beaten to death." Osamu growled.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Ken spoke through gritted teeth trying his hardest not to scream every time the whip bit into his skin. 

"You took it all from me! You turned Kouen away from me. You turned them all from me!" he howled. 

"You did that yourself Osamu. You know it. There's no one else to blame but yourself." Ken hissed and felt the sharp snap of the whip on his back again. 

"I'm tired of this." Osamu put down the whip and walked in front of Ken. Ken's arms were in a 'V' above him, shackled in the middle of a room. "Maybe I should cut out your tongue." He said fingering a sharp and menacing knife. 

"Do it." Ken said indifferently, "It still wouldn't shut out the guilt of what you did to her and to me and to out parents-"

"Shut up!" Osamu shouted as he punched Ken in the face. To his shock, Ken laughed, quietly and then so loudly that it echoed off the walls. "WHAT ARE YOULAUGHING AT?" Osamu screamed at him and slapped him this time.

Ken looked up darkly at him; "You have no one. That's it isn't it? You were so jealous when I became Chosen because I had friends now. I didn't need my big brother to look after me. And I always thought that I needed you as my only friend, but it turns out that I was _your only friend and when they came along, I wasn't there for you anymore. That's why you wanted to be Chosen, that's why you did all this isn't it?" _

Osamu looked hard at him and his hand twitched at his side, as if he wanted to hit Ken again, but he looked down and whispered, "You took it all away from me. And then when she came into my life, you turned her away from me."

Ken's face softened, "No Osamu. She wanted to help you, so did I, but you pushed me away. And you…you hurt her until she realized that she couldn't be with you anymore."

Osamu slashed the knife over Ken's chest and screamed in rage, "LIAR!"

Then he picked up a syringe and jammed it into Ken's bleeding chest. He gasped and shook violently and passed out. He hung in the shackles lifelessly and Osamu backed up in to the wall, staring at him. 

Kouen stopped in the doorway, with Ken just behind her, and looked from the unconscious man in the shackles to Osamu's bitter face. She felt a whelp of panic rise up into her throat at that fact that Ken was not conscious but pushed it down again. She needed to remain calm and level headed for this plan to work. 

"Hello lover." She said harshly. 

The Kaiser's head spun quickly to look at her and he smiled, "You came."

"You didn't give me a choice in the matter."

"Yes I did, Kouen." He stated matter-of-factly. 

She folded her arms, "That's how it's always been with you Osamu, isn't it? Do or die? Not much of a choice is it?"

"It's still a choice." He retorted. 

She dropped her arms to her sides and walked forward into the room, Ken following closely behind her again. "You know I used to love that about you. But like so many things, that changed." She glanced at the tall Sniper standing at the door. He was a muscular man with thick black hair and deep green eyes. She grinned and turned back to Osamu. 

"Now, you gave me a choice; my life for Ken's. I think you should keep to your promise."

He nodded and indicated for the tall Sniper to unshackle Ken. He did so and Ken's unconscious form fell to the stony ground with a thump. 

She looked up at Osamu again with a grimace, "You know, it's sickening to see you disregard your brother's life like this. It would be better if you kept him here and beat him to a bloody pulp every night, but instead you pretend like he's not even worth your time."

"I don't think I asked for your opinion Kouen." He said dangerously. 

She snorted, "No, you didn't. You never did." He eyed her suspiciously when she moved closer to the tall black haired Sniper. "You never asked for my opinion when it came to experimenting on my body like a lab rat. Or how you never asked for my opinion on joining your side. You made all those decisions for me. I had no real choice in the matter."

She began to slide her hand onto the Sniper's shoulder, but he made no response and dared not to look at her. 

Ken felt his heart jump up into his throat. She was making him feel extremely nervous at the way she was egging Osamu on, trying to get a reaction out of him. Now, it seemed she would succeed, though Ken didn't know or not if he wanted to see Osamu angry. 

He suddenly had a flash of his brother Sam standing over him and smacking his hand away, sending his digivice across the room. He shuddered and looked closely from Kouen to Osamu, waiting for his moment to act. 

"Kouen," Osamu began in his most calm voice, "I did that on you because I love you. Don't you see? I wanted you to experience the power with me. I wanted to give you a gift."

She frowned deeply, "A gift? You and I obviously have two completely different ideas of what kind of gift you give your girlfriend for your four-year anniversary."

He looked down and for the first time, Ken noticed that he looked ashamed of himself. He felt a pang of sympathy and reminded himself that even when he was the Emperor, there were times when he felt afraid, or alone, or ashamed. It just meant that he was still human. So was there hope for this Kaiser still? Could he be reached? Would he want to be reached? 

Ken shook his head slightly at the thought. No, he doubted whether or not Osamu would want to be brought back from what he's done. He, him self had moments when the shame of being the Emperor wrapped itself tightly around his heart until he felt like he could not carry on with life anymore, and he had not gone nearly as far as Osamu had. 

There was a still silence in the room now and Osamu finally looked up, "I gave you a choice."

"Yes, you did. But I had no idea what I was getting in to. I was blind Osamu. I loved you so much and so hard that I couldn't see what you had planned for me. I should never have said 'yes' to you. But that's it isn't it? It's all about the choices we make and the choices we don't make. That's what you said to me just before you did it. Well, now I'm making a new choice Osamu. I'm saying 'No' this time. I choose to defy you. I choose this."

Before anyone could react, Kouen had locked her lips with the Sniper and began kissing him passionately. 

It was Ken's signal. When Osamu screamed in rage and ran forward, trying to pull the Sniper from her, Ken picked up his double and ran from the room, without looking back. Kouen knew what she was doing, he trusted her. None of the Sniper's looked twice at Ken running down the corridor and out the Base. He deduced that it was the fact that he was wearing a Sniper uniform. He threw Ken's limp form unceremoniously into the back of the van and jumped into the driver's seat. He started up the engine and waited. 

Osamu managed to tear the Sniper from Kouen, who looked at him with a mixture of defiance and innocence. Osamu whipped the Sniper hard across the back and the man fell to his knees, but he took no more notice of the Sniper again. He looked at Kouen with a fury that scared even her. And then he did something she thought he would never do; he slapped her across the face and spat, "Bitch!"

She stepped backwards, pressing a hand to her smarting cheek. Her eyes whelped with tears and she choked, "You _are a monster! The real Osamu, _my _Osamu would never strike me, not matter what I did! No wonder I left you!" _

She turned and ran from the room, Osamu giving chase. He pulled out a glinting black object from his pocket and threw it at her. The ring snapped closed around her wrist, but she kept running, trying to break it the same way she had broken the other one. 

"I made some improvements on the rings. You won't find it easy to break this time Kouen!" he hissed as she ran out the Base and into the van. 

Ken took off at high speed and headed back to the warehouse. He glanced at Kouen's wrist when she began trying her hardest to break the Black Ring. He noticed the design was subtly different. 

"Is he in control of you now?" he asked. 

She nodded her head, "Only, it's a different kind of control."

 Once they arrived back at the warehouse, they carried Ken's still form to his bedroom and placed him on the bed. Kouen tended to his wounds on his back and his chest but she could not understand why he hadn't woken up yet. 

The group watched him closely and after a few hours, he began to shake and a heavy fever took over his body. 

"What's wrong with him?" Gatomon asked from atop the headboard.  

Kouen looked closely at him again and cursed so loudly that everyone flinched and frowned at her. She turned sharply to Ken who was standing next to Yolei. 

"I have to go back to my apartment. Ken I need you to come with me again. Cody, if you're up for it, it would be a good idea if you came too." 

The brunette nodded. 

"What's wrong Kouen?" Yamato asked, "Why do you-?"

"No time Yamato." She rushed out the room, Ken and Cody at her heels. 

Once in the van again, she explained to Cody and Ken that they were the best fighters in the group and if Osamu knew to look for her at her apartment, they would be able to help her fight him and the Snipers off. 

They burst into the apartment, avoided the knocked over pot plant and waited for her in the lounge. She hurried to the bathroom and began opening the cabinets and cupboards, searching for something. She shoved aside bottles or boxes, not caring if they smashed on the tiled floor. Ken looked in on her and asked if he could help, but she shook her head, "You wouldn't know what it looks like. I'll find it, don't worry, just keep a look out."

She ran to her room and began to look through her draws and her cupboards when a horrible memory came to the surface of her mind and settled there. She was just sixteen lying in a bed in a bright room with a high ceiling. A Digimon who looked like rocks piled on one another came to the bed and injected something into her arm. She was fine for a while, but suddenly her body burst into a high fever and she shook uncontrollably. That is until the Kaiser walked into the room and soothed her, telling her, "I have it. I finally have it." 

He showed her his D-3, but it meant nothing to her. What happened next is still a mystery to her for she blacked out with the pain, but when she woke up again, her body burned with an internal fire. Osamu injected a purple serum into her arm and she immediately felt better. Her body relaxed and became cool. Osamu had told her though, that she needed to take the serum every day for about three weeks, or the fevers would return.  

Kouen shuddered at the memory and reached into the dark corner of her cupboard. Her fingers closed around something smooth and cold. "Yes!" she gasped, pulling the bottle of serum to her eyes. She opened her mouth to call Ken and Cody, but instead a sickening high pitched sound came from her, much like a wounded animal. Pain flowed through her and she dropped the bottle to the carpet. 

Hearing the noise, Ken and Cody came running to the room to find Kouen doubled up with agony. To their amazement, her form began to shift and change. Brilliant red/orange feathery wings burst from her shoulder blades and stretched out behind her, reaching to the back of her knees. Then her dress changed and she became slightly taller. The dress was now the same Vietnamese dress Osamu had made her wear. Her hair unfurled itself from her braid and fell loosely down her back, with the added accessory of what looked like three golden peacock feathers coming from the crown of her head and all the way down her back. Her eyes burned a red/brown as she turned to them, letting out another long scream. 

"Kouen?" Ken gasped as he looked into her burning eyes. 

"I am the ancient Phoenix Spirit, mortal." Her voice was deep and powerful, but with a hint of Kouen's voice behind it, giving it the eerie sound of an echo. 

"Oh, my God." Cody rasped and looked at Ken, "I don't think this is good."

Ken shook his head as the tall woman approached them. 

----~~~~----

Nic: Finally, I thought I would never get the time to finish that chapter.

Ken: What the hell?

Kaiser: I have to agree. What the hell have you done to Kouen?

Nic: It's not what I did, but what Osamu did.

Osamu: I don't know what to say I can't believe you're doing this to me.

Wormmon: What are you going to do Ken? I mean the other Ken?

Nic: You'll see.

Ken: You're strange Nic, you know that right?

Nic: Yes I do. I can't help it if I get odd ideas like this. I got the Kouen idea from Digimon Frontier, which is finally showing here now. I'll elaborate on that in the next chapter. As well as on Ken's turmoil on helping the resistance in the near future. 

Kouen: I have a funny feeling people are trying hard to work out the time-lines to all this. If any of you are confused on dates of events, just let me know and I'll explain in the next author's notes. 

Nic: Thank you Kouen.

Kouen: Your welcome. 

Nic: (Updated AN) Okay, sorry again for not getting this up on Saturday, it seems that I am either too busy to get it up on at Saturday or my connection gives me hell. So from now on, I'll put out a chapter every Sunday if that is okay with you guys. I should also add that I don't own Digimon but I do own Kouen and Mike. Oh and I don't know who sings that song that I quoted at the beginning of this chapter so if any of you know, please let me know. Thanks for the reviews guys.


	8. Facing the deamons

"Doppelgangland"

8. 'Facing the demons' 

_"Don't stay,_

_Forget our memories, _

_Forget our possibilities, _

_What you're changing me into_

_(Just give me myself back) and_

_Don't stay._

_Forget our memories, _

_Forget our possibilities_

_Take all your faithlessness with you_

_(Just give me myself back) and_

_Don't stay._

_I don't need you anymore_

_I don't want to be ignored_

_I don't need one more day_

_Of you wasting me away_

_With no apologies."_

_~ 'Don't stay'  Linkin Park_

Ken and Cody stared up in shock at the frightful creature. Though, she was only two heads taller than they were, she seemed to tower over them. 

"What is she?" Cody choked.

"I'm not sure," Ken admitted, "but I think she's a Digimon." 

Cody glanced around himself; "Do we fight her?"

"I don't even know if we can." Ken looked at the Black Ring on her wrist. It was blinking with red lights on ancient symbols. Ken recognized them but did not share this with Cody. 

Cody noticed what Ken was staring at and nodded, "We have to destroy the ring! But how?" 

Ken held Cody back as he made to run forward to the kitchen to find a weapon of some sort, "No Cody. I don't think destroying the ring is a good plan."

Cody looked skeptically at Ken. Cody was taller now but he was still shorter than Ken, who was the tallest of the group. Even though he needed to look up to Ken to face him, it did not waver his courage. "It's the only plan we have Ken." He said narrowing his eyes. 

Ken sighed and looked back at the powerful digimon, "Okay. But how?"

"I don't know-"

Cody broke off when Kouen leapt forward and spread her wings. It seemed she wanted to fly off the balcony by the lounge. 

"WAIT!" Ken yelled to her, and she turned her head to look down at him.

"Kouen, wait!" he breathed, not knowing what to say next. 

"You are not my mission human." Her echoing voice surrounded the room; "I do not have time for games."

"We don't want to play." Ken rambled and spotted one of Kouen's Sais lying on the floor. She must have dropped it when she changed. He inched towards it; "we just want to help you."

Huffing Kouen turned her head and made to take off again, when Cody noticed what Ken was up to and this time yelled, "Don't!"

"Enough!" she bellowed, "Do not make me kill you." 

As she turned her head again, Ken grabbed the Sai and dived forward, jamming the sharp point of the weapon into the ring. A bright explosion destroyed the ring, sending shards flying in every direction. They opened their eyes and did not find Kouen back in her human form, but an even worse sight. Her eyes were now a dim red/brown, no longer under the control of the ring, and she was thrashing about more violently. She spun around looking confused and Ken and Cody had to dive to the floor to avoid being hit with her wings. 

She opened her mouth only to let out that horrible screech again.

Ken looked up at her and muttered to Cody, "I told you we shouldn't have destroyed the ring."

"Why is she acting like that?" Cody gasped.

"The ring was controlling her evolution, now she doesn't know how to control it. She's like a wild animal. We have to get her to devolve somehow."

"If you haven't noticed Ken," Cody glanced around him self; "We don't have any digimon with us."

"That's probably a good thing. It would make things worse I think." Ken chanced getting up and searching the room trying to find something to fight her with. He spotted the small bottle on the floor and frowned. 

He made to pick it up but felt the strong and surprisingly hot wings hit him with extraordinary strength. He hit the wall and slumped to the carpeted floor. Then Cody and Ken watched as she took flight on the balcony and flew off into the sky. 

"NO!" Cody yelled, "What do we do?"

Ken got to his feet, picked up the bottle and ran for the door, "We follow her!"

They ran down the stairs, knowing that the elevator would take too long and hopped into the van. "Where are the keys?" Ken mumbled desperately, "Damn it! They're upstairs in the apartment."

Cody glanced up at the window of the apartment, "Should I run up and-?"

"No, it'll take too long." Ken's head was already under the steering wheel, yanking at the wires. He sparked the two live ends and the car roared to life. 

"Where did you learn to do that?" Cody inquired eyeing Ken suspiciously. 

"In science class." He glanced at Cody with a wry grin, "I went to a gifted school remember."

Cody chuckled and shook his head. Looking out the windscreen again he spotted Kouen's birdlike form high above them. "It looks like she's heading to the base!"

Ken made a hard left at the nearest stop street and almost ran another car off the road. He barreled down another street and stopped at a set of robots. He looked up out his window and asked Cody, "I've lost her, do you see her?"

Cody pulled his head back inside the car frowning, "Yeah, she's on the roof of the hospital over there. Why do you think she's stopped?"

The light turned green and Ken sped off in that direction, "I don't know, but I'm glad she did."

"Don't be. She's taken flight again. Still heading to the base. Wait!"

"What?" Ken asked sharply. 

"She's slowing down again and flying lower. But she looks like she's trying to fight something."

Ken lowered his head to look up out the windscreen and noticed that Kouen was doing a kind of dance in air. Then she clutched her head, arched her back and screamed again before plummeting to the asphalt below. 

"Oh my God!" Cody's eyes went wide and Ken zoomed forward to the spot where she would land. With a sickening crash, the roof of the van dented in the middle and the back windows in the door shattered. Ken and Cody glanced at each other before getting out and daring to look at the body on the roof of the van. Kouen lay there still in her digimon form, seemingly unharmed save for the fact that she was unconscious. To their surprise she sat up abruptly and jumped to her feet, turning to face them. They instinctively stepped back and she collapsed again. 

They watched as her large wings retracted into her back, her clothes morphed to the ones she wore earlier and the feathers disappeared. She also shrank slightly in size. Ken walked carefully over to her still form and scooped her up in his arms. He carefully lay her down in the back of the van and drove off again to the warehouse. 

When they finally arrived, Kouen was starting to rouse. Ken and Cody helped her out the van and draped her arms over their shoulders while they went up in the elevator. "What happened?" she asked shakily. 

"You don't remember?" Ken asked incredulously. 

Her eyes dropped to the ground, "I turned into it didn't I?"

"If you're talking about that digimon, then yes." Ken sat her down on one of the crates.

She rubbed her head and then looked up sharply, "The serum! I didn't get the serum!"

"Is this what you're looking for?" Ken asked, pulling out the bottle with the purple liquid in it. 

She grabbed it out his hand and jumped to her feet, "Yes!" without another word she ran to Ken's room, where everyone was standing around him. They looked at her and moved out her way when she came close to Ken's bed. She kneeled beside him and felt his forehead; "He's burning up." She turned to Hikari, "Could you bring me a syringe from the first-aid kit?"

The brunette nodded and ran out the room. 

"What's wrong with him?" Yolei asked, worry evident in her voice. 

"He's been poisoned." Kouen said quietly and checked Ken's wounds. 

"Poisoned?" Daisuke gasped, "Kouen? What-?"

Hikari ran in and handed Kouen the syringe, "No time Daisuke, I'll explain later." She held the bottle of serum upside down at eye-level and pushed the needle of the syringe in to the lid. She filled the hollow tube and pulled the needle out. She flicked the syringe to get any air out and squirted it once to check the needle was free of any blockage. Then she pushed the needle into Ken's arm and sent the serum into his blood stream. 

She sighed and pulled out the needle, throwing it in a dustbin under Ken's bed. "All we can do now is wait."

She stood up and turned to the group. 

"Kouen," Yamato said, looking at the bottle of purple serum in her hand, "is that what I think it is?"

She nodded.

"Osamu wasn't going to do to Ken what he did to you was he?" Daisuke questioned, stunned. 

She shook her head; "I don't think so. I think he was just trying to make Ken suffer. He knows what that serum does to a person. I guess Osamu didn't think I still had some of the serum he gave me to stop the fevers."

She turned and walked out the room and made her way, wearily to her own room. There she lay down on her bed and closed her eyes but opened them again when she felt the presence of someone standing next to her bed. 

Ken had closed the door behind him and was looking at her concerned. "He did that to you didn't he?"

She sat up and nodded. 

"When?" Ken asked feeling sickened. 

She took a deep breath. "About four years ago. When he was the Kaiser in the Digital world."

"What exactly did he do to you? I mean, how could he turn you into a-a…?"

"A digimon? I don't even know if that's what you could call me. I'm not human anymore but I'm not completely a digimon either. I don't know what I am. But it started when he started doing experiments with digimon and forced Ryo to tell him everything about his travels to other dimensions. He told Osamu about a digital world where Chosen Children become digimon by using Human and Beast Spirits. I'm not sure exactly but I think Osamu went searching through a different digital world and found a temple of ancient spirit digimon. He took the most powerful one and most appropriate one and put it in his D-3. Then he prepared me for the fusion by injecting a red serum into me. Don't ask me what it did, I don't know and then somehow, he fused the spirit with me. The serum made me sick, sick with fevers so Osamu made me something that would sooth and stop the fevers all together.  

"But the fevers weren't the only thing. I didn't know how to control the digimon spirit within me. I nearly went crazy. And when I say crazy, I mean locked-up-in-a-paddle-cell-crazy. There were voices inside my head all the time, so loud sometimes that I literally could not hear myself think. I would burst into the digimon form at spontaneous times and would have no memory of what I had done. I don't have my mind when I go into that transformation you see. I don't have any control and the only time I had an inch of control was when Osamu had a Black Ring on me, but even then it was hardly anything. Finally I managed to pinpoint what brought on the evolutions."

"What was it?" 

"The evolution of any other digimon." She sighed, "Everything is an opponent to the Phoenix Spirit. She will fight anything."

"And Osamu did this to hurt you?" Ken asked darkly.

"No, he did it because he loved me. Or so he claimed, but I don't think he ever thought that I would become so powerful and so out of control. But he figured out a way to keep me in check and then he made me evolve and fight all of the Chosen Children's digimon. When they were beaten I took them to Osamu to be enslaved." She lowered her eyes.

Ken suddenly looked up, "Oh my God!"

"What?"

"You're Osamu's experiment!"

She frowned deeply at him, "Yes, I-"

"No, you don't understand, when I was the Emperor, I made a digimon called Chimeramon. But he was too powerful for me to control. Did Osamu make a digimon?"

"Well, if you count me, yes." 

"It's all happening. It's slightly different, but it's happening."

"Ken, you're not making sense."

He got up quickly, "I have to talk to the others, come with me."

She nodded and followed him to the table where everyone was sitting. He sat down and asked for everyone's attention. When he was sure he had it, he went on to tell them everything Kouen had told him. As well as the fact that the Base was exactly the same as how he had built his Base. 

"So what's your point Ken?" Davis asked. 

"My point is, it's all happening in some way, but where are Daemon or Arukenimon?" Ken looked meaningfully at their faces. "Surely he would want to take the Spore by now?"

"Maybe he doesn't exist in this world." Cody shrugged. 

"Ken," Kouen said quietly, "I appreciate you worrying about this, but right now we have one problem to deal with, so lets just focus on that."

Ken took a deep breath and nodded. 

"Right, I should get training with you two." Kouen stated, standing up and looking at Ken and Cody. 

Ken shook his head; "I have something I need to do first. I'll train with you later."

Kouen frowned slightly but shrugged, "Okay Ken." She looked to Cody; "You ready?"

He nodded and followed her to the dojo. 

Once inside, she closed the door and handed Cody a Kendo stick. After a few rounds of fighting with the sticks, they bowed and removed their helmets, panting. 

"Who taught you?" Cody asked.

Kouen put the sticks away, "My father. He taught me all I know, that is before he died."

"I'm sorry." Cody bowed his head in understanding, "How did he pass away?"

"Cancer." She sighed, "Not exactly how he would have wanted it, but I guess he still fought all he could." She smiled softly at him and handed him a sword. "You're an excellent Kendo fighter. He was too you know."

Cody's brow furrowed, "How did he die?"

"Iori died like a hero. Just like his father. He died saving someone else's life." 

Cody smiled despite himself then looked down at the sword; "I've never used one of these before."

"I know, that's why I'm going to teach you. Then we'll do some hand to hand combat."

He nodded and they bowed before taking a fighting stance. 

~~~~****~~~~

Ken sat in the office, the door closed and the blinds shut. He had a large piece of paper in front of him and a pencil in his hand. He stared at the sheet of paper and then closed his eyes, thinking hard. Snapping them open again, he bent over the page and traced a long line on the page, then a second line running parallel to it. He looked down at his map of the Base so far and nodded, as if satisfied with it. He put that page on the floor after marking it 'Level one' and began to trace a map on the fresh piece of paper. This one he titled, 'Level two'. 

He felt himself begin to shake with concentration and fear. He realized that the more he forced himself to remember the Base and everything in it, the easier it became to see it vividly in his minds' eye. He could almost see himself dressed in his Emperor uniform, marching down the long passage to his control room, his whip in his hand and Wormmon at his heels. He shook his head and began to draw the map again, trying to force down the sick feeling in his stomach. 

He hadn't even heard the door open when his double walked in; he was too busy concentrating on his designs of the Base. When Ken cleared his throat, he looked up from his work. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked, putting the pencil in his mouth to erase a mistake he had made. 

Ken looked down at the paper and frowned, "Okay. I've been better. What are you doing?"

Ken removed the pencil from his mouth and began re-tracing the line on the map. "I'm drawing a map of the Base."

He narrowed his eyes and took a seat opposite Ken. "How do you know what it looks like?"

"I built it once." He said plainly without taking his eyes off the map. 

"When you were the Kaiser?"

Ken nodded, "Digimon Emperor. Who told you?"

"Your friends. It came up. Look, how do you know that Osamu built it the same way you did?"

"Kouen took me there to find out when we rescued you. It's exactly the same." Still, Ken did not lift his eyes off the page. He seemed absorbed in the project and almost obsessed. 

"I thought you didn't have any memory of being the Kai-I mean Emperor?" Ken cocked his head to the side, watching his double. 

Abruptly, Ken stopped drawing and was still for a beat before slowly looking up into his doppelganger's eyes. "I didn't used to remember. For years things were blurred and there were gaps in my memory. But lately I've started to remember." He indicated to the map, "This helps too. Forcing myself to remember, it helps."

"Why though, why would you want to remember all the horrible things you did? Davis said that you hated yourself for doing those-"

"I do alright? There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret or hate myself for doing those things, but if I can help in someway here, then I'll do it. And the only way I know how to help is like this. There was a reason for me becoming the Emperor, and I finally know what it was now. It was to help you take down the Kaiser here." Ken's eyes softened a little and dropped back down to the map where he began drawing the map again.

Nodding, Ken stood up and left the room, turning to watch him for a moment again, before closing the door. 

He felt a rush of gratitude toward his double, knowing what the cost of his help must be doing to him. But something deep down worried him. He noticed a small glint of something in Ken's eyes when he first looked up from the map. It reminded him of Osamu when he had been studying and Ken had interrupted him. It unnerved him to a great level but he closed the door shrugging it off. He knew Ken knew what he was doing and trusted him. He just hopped that Ken could trust himself enough not to go too far into his memories and not come out of it unaffected. 

----~~~~----

Nic: Right, done. 

Ken: I don't know if I trust you so much anymore.

Kaiser: He remembers now? And he's using his evil powers for good? No!

Nic: Oh, calm down, I never said that did I, but I implied it. And so what, I'm all about 'There's a reason for everything.' So if you don't like it, bite me.

Osamu: Don't tempt him.

Wormmon: Kouen's a Digimon?

Nic: In a way, yes. That will be cleared up some more over the chapters.

Nic: (Updated AN). Well, not much to add; only I forgot to add that I own Shinsei too. And please guys, when you review, let me know about my writing, the story, if things confuse you. What you think of the characters and so on. Thanks. 


	9. This is the sound of the revolution

"Doppelgangland"

9. 'This is the sound of the revolution'

"Fallen Angels at my feet 

_Whispered voices at my ear_

_Death before my eyes_

_Lying next to me I fear_

_She beckons me shall I give in_

_Upon my end shall I begin?_

_Forsaking all I've fallen for I rise to meet the end."_

_~ Evanescence 'Whisper'_

"So that's the plan?" Yamato inquired leaning over the table in the middle of the warehouse. 

Davis, Yolei, Cody, Kari, TK and their digimon partners were sitting scattered on the various crates around the table, while the leaders of the pack hovered over the maps spread out in front of them. 

Both Kens, Mike, Hikari, Yamato, Daisuke and Kouen all had their heads together, and were mumbling and whispering under their breath and then would suddenly lift their head and ask a question. 

The Digidestined decided not to interfere. Usually, Davis would have been in there, boots and all, but he agreed with the others that it was best for them to sit back and let the Chosen and Ken deal with the planning, as they were most familiar with what had succeeded in the past and what had failed. 

"Well, in theory anyway." Kouen shrugged and tucked her bangs behind her ears as she looked down at the maps again. 

Ken, feeling out of place, glanced at everyone's face before leaning forward and tracing his finger along the middle section of the Base, where a tower or pillar ran throughout. "This is the Core. It's highly dangerous to destroy and will cause the entire Base to explode if it's damaged, which is why we have to be careful about shutting it down."

"How do we do that then?" Daisuke asked, sitting on a back-to-front chair.

"Well," he began quietly, "I'll do it."

Ken's double frowned deeply and folded his arms, "No."

He looked up, "What?"

"I'm not putting you in such danger. No."

Ken raised his eyebrow, "Look, I'm the only one here who knows that Base like the back of his hand-"

"Other than me." Kouen interrupted. 

"Other than Kouen," Ken added irritably, "and who knows how to shut it down without getting us all killed."

"How will you shut it down?" Yamato queried, trying to break the tension between the doubles.

"There's a plug of sorts, at the base of the core. It's where all the pipes that power the entire Base start. There is a small outlet with a switch on it that is connected to a security system. The switch is so sensitive, that if a strong vibration were to happen near it, it would disrupt the connection and set off the alarm by shutting down the power, even if it is for just a second. I'm probably the only one who will be able to unplug the pipes carefully enough to-"

"Unplug them?" Hikari jumped in quickly, "I thought you said that if it is unplugged then the alarm will go off."

"No, the outlet with the sensitive plug is next to the pipes. They are right next to each other. That's how I built it, so no one would be able to disconnect the pipes without my knowledge. Removing the pipes is like defusing a bomb."

"So why can't one of us do it then?" Ken asked harshly. 

"Because I'm the one who knows just how sensitive it is! I know how much pressure and movement will be needed to remove the pipes." 

Ken huffed, "Fine, then what do we do?"

Kouen looked up and addressed everyone; "We fight. While Ken here," she put a hand on Ken's shoulder as he straightened up, "is off shutting down the Base. I know the Base well, so I will lead you into the prisons and we will start releasing as many people as possible. If we come across any Sniper, our mission will be to release them." 

She turned seriously to Ken, who was still standing with his arms folded, "That's when you will fight Osamu. If you're up to it that is."

He turned on his heel, "I am. You and I will train tonight after my speech at the festival." He strode off to his room and shut the door with a sharp snap.

The Digidestined looked to the Chosen, "Festival?" Davis inquired, "What festival?"

Yamato turned around and leaned on the table, "Every year on the 26th of July we celebrate our first and only victory against the Kaiser."

"It was three years ago when we first opposed Osamu in a battle against him, using our Digimon we fought him and tore down his first Base. That was his first year in taking over the human world, unfortunately, he re-built and came back stronger. We celebrate it because it drives him crazy and gives us hope." Daisuke established, then looked around, "We should start getting this place ready."

"You celebrate here?" Kari asked quizzically, "Is that safe?"

"Well, the last time we had it at the stadium and Yamato and his band sang, but Osamu put a stop to it by telling the manager of the building to shut down the power or be faced with serious charges against him." Daisuke stated bitterly. 

~~~~****~~~~

The day passed relatively quickly as it was filled with everyone preparing the warehouse for the festival. The Digidestined were surprised to see everyone in the warehouse work to get it ready in time. Many people were in the cafeteria kitchen, cooking sukiyaki, tempura and yakitori or preparing cold dishes such as sushi and sashimi, while others were clearing the main floor by pushing the crates and tables to the walls. 

Davis looked around, dusting off his hands after pushing a particularly heavy crate to the side of the warehouse. His brow furrowed with confusion, "Where's Ken?" he asked Yolei, who was adjusting her glasses.

"Which one?" she asked with a caustic tone. 

"Our Ken." Davis stated irritably.

"I don't know. He disappeared a few hours ago." She turned and strode off towards the stage area where Yamato and TK were. Davis watched her hop onto the crates and begin helping them set up musical instruments. 

The stage was makeshift, several large wooden crates pushed together to form a platform. In the center of the stage were microphones, which were hooked up to outlets.

Davis spotted Hikari walking out of the kitchen and towards him, "Hey Davis." She looked closely at him, "What's wrong?"

He shrugged, "I was wondering where Ken went to. He just disappeared and it's got me concerned and Yolei peeved."

"Why?" Hikari inquired, sitting on the crate he had moved. 

"Well, I don't know why, but I'm starting to worry about him remembering what it was like being the Emperor. I know he still beats himself up about it almost everyday, but now that he is thinking about it so often, I just hope it doesn't make him nuts or something." He glanced at Yolei and then back to Hikari, "And Yolei is just peeved because he seems to be pushing her away."

"Pushing her away?"

"Well, spending more time with Kouen than her and when he's not doing that, he's off somewhere by himself, thinking about his days as the Emperor." Davis sighed heavily. 

She cocked her head to the side, "You don't want Ken to help?"

"Of course I do! But, well, there's only so much he can do right? I mean, he doesn't remember much about being the Emperor. He's told us that loads of times. So I just hope he doesn't beat himself up about not being able to do enough."

She narrowed her eyes at him with a wise look, "I think he is capable of doing a lot for us. Just like our Ken. They both are the same, but somehow different, but both are able to do incredible things that no one else can get through. Ken almost killed his brother and he came back from it, and now, he's even going back to try again. Your friend is strong, you just have to trust him, Davis."

He nodded as Hikari slipped off the crate; "I came out here to ask you if you wouldn't mind joining us in the kitchen. Daisuke is in there and we need all the help we can get. See, I heard you were a really good cook."

A smile stretched over his features, "Ah, yeah, sure."

In the office, this new world's Ken was sitting at the computer typing away commands and information which was causing him to become more and more infuriated. Kouen quietly opened the door and leaned on the frame. She took in a long breath and let it escape her slowly as she stepped in and shut the door behind her. "You should be resting."

"I'm fine." He snapped without looking up.

She sat down on an office chair beside him and stared at the screen, "You fixed it." She stated, startled. 

"Yes, but now I can't figure out how to change it back so we can send the Digidestined back to their world."

"Why did you change it?" she asked innocently. 

"We need to go to the Digital world to shut down his Base there." 

She nodded and fell quiet. She wanted to put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but resisted the urge, as she knew it would only anger him. A year ago, she would have done it without a second thought, and he would have welcomed it, but now days, too much had happened to them. Ken had grown up incredibly fast and become a hard and sometimes cold person. He had watched as his brother had snapped Kouen's delicate spirit in half, watched as he took possession of the human world, watched as he had killed Iori and all with him feeling helpless to stop it. He burdened no one but him self with all he had seen and it was starting to show how heavy it was to carry the weight of it on his shoulders. 

Feeling the strong silence, Kouen cleared her throat and asked quietly, "Are you sure you don't want to rest before we train tonight?"

He nodded, only half hearing what she was saying. He was absorbed in what he was doing. She dropped her eyes to the floor, "I'm going to train you hard tonight Ken, I just want you to know that and I wanted to make sure that you were ready to-"

"Kouen! I'm fine! Now leave me alone, I'm busy!" he shouted. 

Feeling stung, she got to her feet and left the room. Glancing at the excitement of everything going on around her, she stepped into the dojo and changed out of her dress and sandals into her black pants and white top to begin training herself. 

~~~~****~~~~

He walked determinedly down the corridor. The beige walls were illuminated with strong down-lights. The floor and stairs were a cold gray. He looked left and right and stepped towards a black door, which slid open and then closed again when he was inside the room. He sat down on his throne and stared up at the many monitors in front of him. They showed him many things. One was his design of the Dark Rings, another a Dark Spiral. One to his left showed his visor, and one above that was showing him all the Digidestined. He turned to look at the one right in front of him and saw himself. His hair was smooth and bangs fell over one side of his face. His eyes were cold and void of emotion and suddenly that Ken opened his mouth to speak, "Ken." It sounded far away, "Ken?"

He snapped his eyes open and looked around. Yolei was standing over him, her hand on his shoulder and her eyebrows raised, "Ken? Are you alright?" 

He lifted his head off his arms and tried to collect his thoughts. "I'm fine."

"You looked like you were having a nightmare." She looked around at the desk he had been sleeping on. "What are you doing in the work shop anyway?"

"I'm…I'm…nothing, Yolei." He said hastily and grabbed the metal object in front of him before Yolei could get a good look at it. But it was too late. With surprising reflexes she leaned forward and snatched the object out of his hands. 

She studied it and her mouth fell open. Then she turned to him with a fury that he had never seen in her before. She gritted her teeth as her eyes grew large with anger, "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yolei, I can explain-"

"No, Ken, I don't think you can! This is a Dark Ring! What the hell are you doing making a Dark Ring?"

"Yolei, it's not exactly the same and it's not even finished yet. I must have fallen asleep or something but I was building it to-"

"To what Ken? To enslave digimon again, or maybe you'll pull a Kaiser and enslave people?"

He stood up forcefully, causing Yolei to step back in surprise. He was burning with a fiery anger and he wasn't too sure why. "Yolei! Let me explain! I'm not using it to enslave anyone! I'm going to use it to help someone. You know I would never go back to my old ways."

She narrowed her eyes; "You're using it to help someone? Ken," she held up the ring, "this is not a good thing. This is a destructive thing. It can't be used to help anyone."

He sighed deeply, "I've modified the program."

"Who's it for?" she asked coldly and already somehow knowing the answer. 

"Kouen." He stated smoothly. 

"Oh. I should have known. You and her have become awfully close lately."

"Yolei, you don't understand. It's like I know her. I have to help her if I know I can. And besides, it's not like that. She feels like a sister." He reasoned. 

She shook her head and threw the ring to the table, "And since when do you remember how to build a Dark Ring and draw the map of your old Base? You told us you don't remember much about being the Emperor. Or were you lying Ken?"

His mouth fell open, "I wasn't lying. I didn't remember much. Not until recently."

"What's 'recently'?" she asked flatly. 

He hesitated, "About two or three years."

She raised her eyebrows, "And you were going to tell me when?"

"I didn't want you to worry about me…"

"I'm your girlfriend Ken! No matter what I'm going to worry about you! When will you trust me completely and just open up to me? Do you know what it's like being around you sometimes? Impossible! It's like you just shut down sometimes or go off on your own, leaving me behind. And not just me but the others too! After all these years, you still haven't realized that we are your friends and that you can tell us anything without us judging you."

"It's not that easy for me Yolei!" he erupted, "When I was a kid, I didn't have anyone! No friends, no one, just Sam. He's the only person I trusted and look how well he treated me! And then he died Yolei, he died and I had no one. I was really alone. All those years I kept things to myself because I had to, because I had no one to confide in. I'm sorry I'm not more open Yolei, but it's an old habit."

Her cold demeanor melted and her eyes became soft again as he sat down with a huff. She bowed her head in shame and moved over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry Ken-chan. I didn't mean to upset you. I know it's hard, I just wish that you would remember that you're not alone. Not anymore. I'll never leave you." She kissed him on the cheek and left the room, closing the door behind her.  

Ken paused before picking up the ring again and working on it. Something stirred in the back of his memory. Something Shinsei had said about him. She had said that he would be able to help the Chosen Children of this world but that he would have to decide if he would admit that he could help them. He didn't really understand what she had meant, but now it was crystal clear. Ken had to inform his friends that he remembered everything about being the Emperor and that he was prepared to use that knowledge to help fight the Kaiser. He knew how they would react. Davis would worry about his sanity and Cody would look at him with repressed bitterness. TK would try his hardest not let it bother him, as he knew that TK hated all things connected with the Darkness. Kari would be the only one to really understand. She knew all about light and darkness. She knew that the human soul was made up of both these choices. And now Ken had to admit to his friends that he was now a gray person and could never go back. He could either take what he knew and use it for the darkness or use it by helping the light.  

He hunched over the ring again and finished it off. Then he picked it up and stepped out of the room. He noticed that in his absence he hadn't been missed much, for everything had changed around him. He walked to the office and sat down in front of the computer. He pulled out his D-3 and connected it to the computer, where a few commands and a dialogue box popped up on the screen. He clicked 'proceed' on the dialogue box and his D-3 lit up. With shaking hands, he held his black D-3 over the glinting Silver Ring and then pressed the small screen to the tip of the ring where a small section was left open, exposing all the chips on the circuit board. As if scanning the ring, all the information was loaded onto the chip. Ken closed the ring up and shut off the computer. 

He pocketed the ring and made his way towards Shinsei's room. He wanted to ask her about confronting his friends with his news for some reason. When he heard Kouen's voice, he stopped and turned. She was coming from the dojo, a sweat towel over her shoulder. 

"What are you doing?" she asked casually. 

"I was going to ask Shinsei something." He replied. 

She shuddered, "You're going in there voluntarily?"

He narrowed his eyes at her; "You don't like her much do you?"

"It's not that I don't like her. It's just that I don't like being in her company. She gives me the creeps. She looks at me like she knows exactly what went on between Osamu and I in the Base. Well, I guess that's because she does know and that's why I don't like to be around her."

Ken's interests peek and he looked at her accusingly, "What did go on?"

"Things I don't like to talk about Ken." She stated bluntly. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry." 

"It's okay." She made to walk off but he called her back. 

"I made something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Silver Ring. "I haven't tested it yet, but if it goes wrong I can fix it for you." He held it out to her. 

"Is that a Black Ring?"

"No, well, it's similar, but not exactly the same. I got the idea when you told me that you had more control when Osamu was controlling you with a Black Ring. I thought that maybe if I created a ring that would allow you to control your evolutions and keep your mind when you are in that state it would benefit you and this fight. Which means you can evolve and devolve at will."

She blinked at him, impressed and truly grateful. "Thank you Ken." She took the ring and snapped it onto her wrist. 

She tilted her head at him, "Should I test it here?"

"No, not yet." He dropped his voice, "Was Ken working on the gate to the Digital world?"

She nodded. 

"He wants to shut down the Kaiser's Base there doesn't he?"

She nodded again. 

"I think it would be a good idea if we went there and looked through his computer files. Just incase he is hiding something up his sleeve that we don't know about. In this situation, we don't want to be surprised." 

"Good idea Ken. Just one problem, he keeps it heavily guarded with Digimon when he's not there. How do we get in?"

"Well, if the ring works, you could fight them off."

She stared at him for a while, then nodded once again, "All right Ken. But I think it would be best to keep this from your doppelganger until we have the files and know the ring works. I'm not sure how he will react to it."

Ken nodded, "Okay."

~~~~****~~~~

Finally night came and the warehouse looked ready for a festival. The cafeteria tables were laden with plates of food. The makeshift stage was set with instruments, waiting to be played and candles were lit around the open area sitting on the crates that were pushed to the sides. A few photos were next to some of the candles or people's names, written in Japanese characters. There were sticks of incense burning too and the whole room had relaxed soft feel to it. 

As if on cue, everyone in the warehouse emerged out of their rooms, dressed in garments for special occasions. Some wore traditional Japanese Kimonos; some wore traditional martial arts garments. The Digidestined had found clothes laid out for them in their room and so dressed in them. Cody wore a Hakama with a Haori. Kari wore a long rose coloured Kimono that was very soft and flowing. TK wore a white Kimono with a blue obi across his waist. Davis wore a similar outfit though his sash was green. Yolei wore a plane lilac Japanese Kimono, with her hair tied up with chopsticks and Ken emerged wearing his Judogi with a black belt. 

Everyone made their way to the open area in the middle of the warehouse and stood as if they were at an assembly. Ken turned and saw Kouen lighting a candle near two pictures. He couldn't quite make out who they were. She blew out the match and turned to him, smiling. She joined the group of Digidestined and looked at the stage expectantly. Before Ken could ask what they were waiting for, his double walked onto the stage, dressed in the same Judo clothes as him.

He stopped in front of the microphone and waited for everyone to stop talking. When everything became quite, he opened his mouth to speak. His tone was somewhat distant with a forced effort to make it comforting and warm. "My fellow Resistance Fighters, we have come to another year."

There was a burst of cheering and then everything slowly became quiet again. 

"It has been a long war and is far from over. I wish I could say that I have a plan to stop it all, but as you know all too well, noting is set in stone. My efforts to assassinate the Kaiser failed and I apologize to you for that. I know so many of you have lost someone to be here. Whether it is their life that was taken, or their freedom. I feel your pain, I truly do. I ask everyone to bow their heads in honor of those who cannot be here tonight in a moment of silence."

Everyone dropped their heads and fell silent. Ken glanced around and noticed some people had their eyes shut. Some where silently letting tears roll down their cheeks. Some where muttering under their breath and then Ken spoke up again. "We are all here for a reason tonight. As you all remember, three years ago, we fought the Kaiser and won. This is our hope that we will do it again. This war is only over when we stop fighting and the Kaiser will have to destroy every single one of us in order for that to happen!"

Again the crowd erupted in a roar of agreement. 

"Now!" Ken bellowed, "Enjoy yourselves tonight, live in the now! Eat! Drink and dance!"

The crowd burst into cheering and applauding once again and Yamato's band started playing. Everyone began dancing to the heavy beat. 

Ken bowed and jumped off the stage. Kouen, who was wearing her white Ao Dai and her hair in her long braid, walked up to him and asked him if he was ready. He nodded and they walked into the room and closed the door behind them.

Ken watched them and then looked around him. People were doing various things. Some had gone to the cafeteria to eat. Some couples where kissing or dancing with each other in passionate ways. Some people were looking at the photos along the warehouse. 

Yamato's song ended and Yolei grabbed Ken's arm, "What is it?" he asked slightly startled by her reaction. 

"It's Shinsei!" she pointed at the stage and Ken watched as the girl, dressed in a red corset type dress walked on to the stage. Her black hair was still flowing behind her and her eyes were as piercing as ever. She stepped up to the microphone and Yamato and his band began playing a rather hard rock song, which suddenly became soft, as she began to sing. Her voice was enchanting and powerful. 

"Catch me as I fall 

_Say you're here and it's all over now._

_Speaking to the atmosphere_

_No one's here and I fall into myself._

_This truth drives me into madness_

_I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away."_

Meanwhile, Ken and Kouen were fighting each other. Ken held his sword across his face, while Kouen stood at a distance, her Sais at the ready. Their hearts were beating with the beat of the music penetrating the room and their eyes were locked. 

They raced at each other and Kouen managed to block every blow that Ken aimed at her. Then she bent low for a sweeping kick and knocked him off his feet. He landed on his back and sat up quickly. She held out a hand for him but he refused to take it. 

"You aren't focusing Ken." She stated harshly. 

"I am!"

"No, you are holding back!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "I don't want to hurt you."

"I can hold my own Ken. This isn't a game. This is real. Go for the kill. You know the Kaiser will." She took her position again and he charged at her, lunging his sword at her chest, but missing every time. 

"Don't turn away 

_(Don't give in to the pain)_

_Don't try to hide_

_(Though they're screaming your name)_

_Don't close your eyes_

_(God knows what lies behind them)_

_Don't turn out the light_

_Never sleep, never die."_

Yolei grabbed Ken by the waist and held him close to her. He smiled weakly before leaning his head on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her slim mid-section. Somehow in all this reality, he felt he needed to hold onto something before he got lost in it. He looked up and into her amber eyes, which were sparkling in the candlelight. Then he leaned in closely and gently but passionately began kissing her. It was the first time he had touched her since he had been controlled and almost raped her. She welcomed his affection and drank in it gratefully. 

"I'm frightened by what I see 

_But somehow I know there's much more to come._

_Immobilized by my fear_

_And soon to be blinded by tears. _

_I can stop the pain if I will it all away."_

"You're still holding back Ken!" Kouen yelled as she managed to knock his sword from his grip once again. Now he had to resort to his own hands. 

"I need my sword!" he growled, his way of asking for a break. 

"No you don't! Remember what I taught you: Don't rely on the weapon, be a weapon yourself! You don't need it!" With that, she threw down her Sais and charged at him, going to sidekick his waist. He managed to block her by lifting his leg so her kick would hit his shin. Then she made to use her other leg to kick his undefended leg, but he managed to block her again. However, she changed her weight and made an eye-level swooping kick, which connected to his face. He fell to the ground and looked up at her with a glower. 

"Your style has changed."

She nodded and offered him a hand, but he refused to take it again. "I taught the Kaiser to fight remember. He knows everything about the way we fight so I decided to create a new style, something he won't expect. Learn it Ken. Study it. It will be the deciding factor of whether you live and he dies or you die and he lives."

He nodded and they began to lock in battle again. 

"Don't turn away 

_(Don't give in to the pain)_

_Don't try to hide_

_(Though they're screaming your name)_

_Don't close your eyes_

_(God knows what lies behind them)_

_Don't turn out the light_

_Never sleep, never die"_

It felt like hours that they had been training, though it had been little more than five minutes. This new style of Kouen's was tricky and hard to figure out. He never knew which angle she was going to come from or where she was going to strike until she was too close for him to block it. He staggered and fell backwards again. He was exhausted and he had barely touched her, though she had managed to strike him many times. She had not lied when she said she was going to be hard on him in this session. He now sincerely regretted not resting more, as he was feeling the side effects of the fever and his wounds from Osamu were throbbing painfully. He tired his utmost not to show his pain or fatigue but his head was swimming and he fell to the mat. She waited for him to get up and when he did not she walked over to him and looked down. 

"Get up."

"I can't."

"Get. Up."

"I told you I can't!" 

"Do you honestly think your brother will give you a time out? Now get up and fight me!"

"Kouen, I don't have the strength, I have no more energy."

"If you have the energy to tell me you have no energy, you are a liar. Take that energy, that strength and transform it into the power you need. When you can no longer talk or move, that is when our training is over."

Ken stared hard at her for a minute and then gathered the strength to stand again. "When did you turn into such a hard-nose bitch?"

"About the same time your brother turned into a cold-blooded killer."

"Fallen Angels at my feet 

_Whispered voices at my ear_

_Death before my eyes_

_Lying next to me I fear_

_She beckons me shall I give in_

_Upon my end shall I begin?_

_Forsaking all I've fallen for I rise to meet the end."_

----~~~~----

Nic: I love this chapter!

Ken: It's very strange. 

Nic: I know. Okay, I got the idea for the dancing and festival thing from 'Matrix Reloaded' but elaborated on the idea. Obviously the song that was sung was 'Whisper' by Evanescence. 

Kaiser: Is Ken going to turn into a Digimon now that Osamu injected that serum into him?

Nic: No, that was not what caused Kouen to become a Digimon, I'll go into more detail about that next chapter.  

Nic: (Updated AN). Okay, I forgot how much I love this chapter. I've been feeling really emotional lately and was playing a song by Sarah McLachan, which always makes me on the verge of tears, and that speech Ken made to Yolei about being alone nearly made me cry! 

Ken: Wonder if it did the same to anyone else?

Nic: Yeah, me too. Anyway, thanks for reviewing everyone. I cannot wait to work on the sequel for this, but more importantly, I cannot wait to work on the crossover between Akino Ame and I are going to be working on. It's a crossover between Doppelgangland and With Broken Wings. I think it's going to rock this world! Okay, till next time!


	10. Save me from the dark

"Doppelgangland"

10. 'Save me from the dark'

"If I could change I would Take back all the pain I would 

_Retrace every wrong move that I made I would_

_If I could._

_Stand up and take the blame I would_

_If I could take all the shame to the grave I would."_

_~ 'Easier to run' Linkin Park_

Ken lifted his head only a little, and looked up at Kouen with his dark blue eyes. His body ached and burned with fatigue. His head pulsed with the pain of his wounds and fever but he pushed it deep down into his body so that he could barely feel anything anymore. Kouen was right. He needed to focus. He needed to let go. He had to stop holding back, this was no game. This was a matter of life and death. He moved into a fighting stance and waited for her assault.

She flew at him, her Sais were inches from his face, but in a swift movement, his sword was blocking his face and not allowing the sharp weapons to touch is face. However, because he was so focused on blocking her weapons, he forgot to block her moves. He landed flat on his back after flying backward by the force of her foot in his gut. She didn't give him a moment to recover so he flipped himself back onto his feet and swung his sword at her midriff. She jumped back and instantly roundhouse kicked him in the face. He stumbled and recovered, but she was right there in his face again. Her movements were fluid and it seemed that with every action that was made, her body made a reaction. It was as if she was taking his energy, his motions and using them to throw back at him. 

In a moment of hesitation, she flicked her Sais around the blade of his sword and flung it from his hands. Reeling from this, he back-flipped away from her, towards the sword, but she had already anticipated this and when he reached for his weapon, she was already there standing with it in her hand and holding it at his throat. "You loose Ken."

Without warning he jumped back from the sword and dropped down for a sweeping kick. His leg connected with Kouen's ankles and the force caused her to loose her balance and land on her back. She dropped the sword and her Sais but was on her feet again in seconds. Ken came at her with his fists, but she blocked and repelled all his blows. Finally he found an opening in her defense. When she brought her arm forward to punch his face, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her forward on her own momentum, twisted her around, while tangling his arm around hers and using his fist to punch her in the face. She staggered, but he brought her elbow down into her gut, where she doubled up and he dropped her. She fell to her knees and gasped for breath, while he picked up his sword and held the tip pointing at her heart. 

She looked up at him, finally having caught her breath and nodded, "You figured out what I was doing. Using your own energy against you. Well done. The Kaiser will not understand it until it is too late."

He nodded and bowed and held out his hand to her. When she stood up, however she swayed violently on the spot and the world around her became hazy. 

"Kouen?" Ken asked worriedly. 

"I-I'm fine Ken, just a little worn out from the fight." She took a few steps forward and collapsed in a heap on the floor. 

Ken ran forward and examined her, "Kouen?" he felt her pulse, it was there and not weak and when he looked at her face again, she was stirring. 

"Did I faint?" she asked groggily. 

He nodded, "Are you okay?"

"I think so."

He picked her up in his arms and carried her out the room. 

He walked past the large group of people dancing in the middle of the warehouse and headed straight for Kouen's room. 

Hikari and Yamato noticed this and ran towards Kouen's room. Yamato rushed in as Ken was setting Kouen down on her bed. 

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned. 

"I just had a dizzy spell Yamato." Kouen answered irritably, "I'm probably just worn out from the evolution."

"Do you need some of the serum?" Ken asked. 

She shook her head, "No, I think I'll be fine with some rest." She lay down and turned to the wall. She found it very easy to fall asleep, even with the noise outside. 

The small group of people left her alone and closed the door quietly behind them. 

Yolei, Kari and the rest of the Digidestined as well as Ken all grouped around Yamato and Hikari. Ken had marched off towards the dojo again. 

"We saw Ken carrying her to her room. Is she all right?" Cody inquired. 

Yamato nodded, "She'll be fine. She's just exhausted from her evolution today."

They rejoined the party and danced for hours. Ken noticed Hikari standing by one of the memorials and decided to join her. As he approached, he saw she was looking at a picture of her brother. She turned to him with a brave smile. 

"He's not…?"

"No, he's just a slave for the Kaiser." 

Ken hung his head, "I'm sorry."

An awkward silence fell between them and Ken suddenly asked, "Where do you get the money to run this place?"

"We get it from Kouen." She stated. When she saw the puzzled look upon Ken's face she added, "Her parents got divorced when Kouen was just a little girl and she lived with her father because her mother didn't really want any responsibilities anymore. I think that was the reason for the divorce. Anyway, after Kouen's father died, her mother sent her money to look after herself until Kouen had a job and could afford to take care of her self. You see her mom married this really rich guy and so whatever amount Kouen asks for, her mom sends her, no questions asked." Hikari dropped her voice; "Personally I think her mom feels guilty about leaving Kouen; that's why she pays for anything Kouen wants."

"Hmm, well, that is handy to have in a situation like this." 

Hikari nodded her head and looked around, "Looks like the party is dying down now. I think I'm going to get to bed."

"Who's going to clean this up?" Ken asked with a slight laugh. 

She grinned, "Oh, the crowd does. It's the deal we made. We set it up, they clean it up."

Ken nodded with a smile and watched her go to her room. 

~~~~****~~~~

The next morning Ken awoke to Kouen whispering in his ear. He slowly opened his eyes to look into her large green ones and frowned, "What's wrong?"

"I thought we should sneak out to the Digital world now, while everyone is still sleeping." She whispered.

Ken tossed back his covers and pulled on his pair of jeans and a shirt and followed her out the room. He ran his hand through his hair in an attempt to tidy it. 

"Why do you want to go to the Digital world now?" he asked her when they were in the office. 

"I don't want the others there. I think it would be far more risky if we went in a pack and if they knew we were going, just the two of us, they would insist they come. You know your way around the Base and I can serve as protection, and test out this ring you gave me." She held up her wrist to show him the Silver Ring. 

He eyed her for a moment and shrugged, "Okay. Lets go." 

By using Ken's D-3, they entered the portal through the computer and landed in the Sever Dessert. Kouen wore her white Vietnamese dress and she noticed that Ken was wearing a gray uniform, even though he was seventeen. 

Ken looked down at himself and muttered, "Some things never change."

"The clothes come from a wish right?" Kouen asked. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Ken told me that all their clothes changed to what they wanted. It's a subconscious thing."

Ken nodded, "Yeah." He looked closely at her face, "What is it?"

"I was wondering if you would be able to make yourself look like the Kaiser. It would be a lot easier to get around in that Base." She added quickly when Ken's face went pale. 

Ken noticed that his mouth had dropped open so he slowly shut it. He stared at her, "I don't know if I could even if I wanted to."

"Couldn't' you just try?" she pleaded. 

He sighed and closed his eyes. He squeezed them tight and focused on his Emperor garb. When he thought he was too exhausted to think on it anymore, he opened his eyes and looked down at himself. He was dressed in the blue and white jump suit. 

"You did it, only the Kaiser's outfit is black where yours is blue."

He nodded and focused on this for a minute and opened his eyes to see he looked just like the Kaiser. He shuddered involuntarily. 

"Thank you for doing this." She said quietly, "I know it must be hard for you."

He nodded and they entered the Base without anyone giving them a second glance. All the slaved digimon went about what they were doing and some bowed down at Ken's feet. A sickening feeling of nostalgia threatened to take over Ken and make him tell those Digimon to stop bowing, but he fought the urge. 

They walked to the monitor room and Kouen stopped outside, to keep guard. 

He passed the throne and moved forward to the invisible keypad. Kouen looked in at him and had a mixture of awe and bewilderment on her face. 

He began typing in commands to bring up files and he put in a disk to download all the files. When that was done, he pulled out the disk and put it in his pocket. 

He was about to begin setting up a worm virus when he noticed an e-mail in the Kaiser's inbox. He clicked on it and backed up slightly, his eyes wide with shock. 

_"Dear Osamu,_

_The pressures of life are getting to you; you feel you cannot cope. No one understands you and you feel you need to get away from your family. There is another world you can go to. All you have to do is use your brother's Digivice. Copy it, and you will be able to escape." _

Ken shook his head and closed the e-mail. He began setting up the virus and shut down the monitor. 

He walked passed Kouen as he exited the room and down the corridor, "There's one more thing we need to do." His tone was cold and void of emotion. 

"Are you okay Ken?" she asked.

"I'm fine."

After a few moments of silence between them, while they walked down to the core of the Base, Kouen finally decided to ask, "What are we doing?"

"I'm going to try and shut down the power to this Base." He stated bluntly. 

"Oh." 

Again they walked in silence but froze when three digimon slaves came walking around the corner. All of them were Gotsumon and when they laid eyes on Ken they dropped to their feet and began to bow to him, praising him, "Oh master, we did not know you were going to come back so soon."

Ken grimaced down at them and felt his insides churn. "Get up." He said quietly. 

They looked up, "Master?"

"I said get up off the floor. Go back to your business." Kouen noticed his tone was cold and somewhat cruel. 

He began walking again when the digimon nodded and ran off in the opposite direction. Kouen watched him for a moment and then caught up. 

"You sounded just like him." Her tone was distant and slightly afraid. 

He didn't look at her, "I know. I was him remember." His eyes dropped to the cold gray floor, "Do you have any idea how dirty I feel right now? In these clothes? In this Base?" he shook his head, "Lets just get this over with as quickly as possible." 

She nodded and said with a guilty tone, "I'm sorry Ken, for making you do this."

He shrugged, "I volunteered remember?" 

When they entered the room, Ken marched forward and caught a glance at him self in the reflective tube. His stomach lurched and he felt his hands curl into fists. 'I'm not you anymore.' He thought angrily to himself. 

He bent down to look at the pipes and jumped backwards when a large pool of black and purple opened up in front of him. To his horror, Daemon emerged from the portal and looked down on him with his glowing eyes. 

"Osamu Ichijouji." He rasped. 

"Daemon." Ken hissed. 

"You know who I am?" Daemon sounded taken aback. 

"Ken," Kouen interrupted, "Who is that?"

"That's Daemon, a Dark Lord Digimon who's bent of getting his claws on the Dark Spore." Ken chewed out, while still facing Daemon. "I knew you would make your appearance sooner or later."

"How do you know what I'm after?" he asked dangerously. 

"I'm not Osamu, I'm Ken Ichijouji and-"

"The Kaisers' brother?"

"No, I'm a different Ken. From a different dimension." 

"But I can sense the Dark Seed in you, how is this possible?" He growled and before Kouen could step back and prepare her self, Daemon made a swipe at Ken, knocking him hard into the wall of the Base and increasing in size.

Ken slumped to the floor and tried to find his focus. He looked up at Daemon with blurred vision. 

"No matter, I'll just take _your_ Dark Seed!" The dark lord digimon loomed over Ken but before he could touch Ken, a whirlwind of flames hit Daemon and he staggered backward.  

Ken looked up and blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. He saw a figure flying by Daemon's face and saw that it was Kouen in her Digimon form. She was taller and those fiery golden wings were allowing her to fly away form Daemon's claws. 

Ken's stomach sank; she would be killed. Not even Imperialdramon was strong enough to take down Daemon.  However to his surprise, her barrels of flame seemed to be hurting Daemon. His mouth fell open as he watched her attack him. 

She was incredibly fast and he could not get a single attack on her, however he seemed to be slowly destroying the Base. 

"Kouen!" Ken yelled, "Take the fight outside!"

She glanced down and nodded to show she had heard him and with a violent attack of flames, sent Daemon hurtling through the Base wall and into the sand of the Sever Desert, where he shrank back to his original size. 

Ken ran out through the hole in the wall and saw to his horror; Daemon was now faster and able to hurt Kouen in this size. 

"Flame Inferno!"

Ken cringed as Kouen hit the sand and was burned by the attack, but when it died away he saw she was back on her feet, though looked slightly drained. 

"It's time to even this out a bit." She growled and yelled, "Hououmon digivolve evolved to…Hushicyoumon!"

For a moment she glowed white and when she was visible again, she was taller, her hair was down to her knees in a long red braid, phoenix feathers still resting over her hair. Her wings were now gone and in their place, wings were attached all along her arms. A gold body suit covered her torso, while bronze coloured boots went up to her thighs with little feathered wings at the heels like the wings on her arms. Silver gauntlets were on both hands and a gold helmet in the shape of a Phoenix's beak sat upon her head coming down over her forehead and casting her eyes in shadow.

She giggled and looked down at Ken, "I always wanted to say that."

----~~~~----

Nic: I think that's where I'm going to end this chapter. 

Ken: She can go up levels now?

Kaiser: Apparently. 

Nic: Well, I thought so, since she can control her evolutions now. But this is the only level she can go up to. Also, I know what you readers are thinking, that it should be a slide evolution, but she doesn't know that because she has only been around the normal digimon of season 2 which don't slide evolve. Don't worry, it will be sorted out in the sequel. She doesn't know about human and beast spirits yet.

Wormmon: I don't think having Ken dressed, as the Kaiser is such a good idea.

Osamu: Why not?

Wormmon: It might make him crazy with guilt over what he did.

Ken: Hmm, Nic, is that what you are planning?

Nic: Why are you asking me this, you know I won't tell you. Besides, there are other issues you should be worried about, like Daemon for one!

Kaiser: Oh, yeah, right.

Nic: *Rolls her eyes* Oy vey!

Kouen: Wait, did she say sequel?

Ken: Yes, she's been thinking about it for ages, where have you been?

Kouen: Hmm, I don't know. 

Nic: (Updated AN). Okay, it is so hot here that I can't think straight or move and I'm melting!

Ken: Yet you insist on proofreading this chapter and uploading it. 

Nic: Yes, I promised I would get a chapter out every Sunday. Speaking of which, I won't be here next weekend so I'll only get the next chapter out on Monday night, sorry. Things are coming to an end sadly but don't worry, I am working on the sequel and those of you who read 'Weight of the worlds' you'll be happy to know that the sequel to that is almost finished. Now, I've been trying to upload this chapter for a long time now, but each time it messes up the page and every thing italics is not in italics and the format is wrong…grr, if it happens again, I'm leaving it like that, sorry guys, but I'm too hot to mess around with this today. 

Anyway, till next time, read and review!


	11. The enigma

"Doppelgangland"

11. 'The enigma'

"Here I go again with the pain I feel 

_Is it real or in my mind?_

_I find myself in places with names but not faces_

_My memory erases at speeds_

_Hundred degrees, my soul bleeds_

_Devil must have planted the seed._

_Now it feels like my back's against the wall,_

_I'm taking the fall,_

_Whenever I call, no body's responding at all._

_But I don't know who I can trust,_

_They're screaming my name, _

_I need somebody to help me out of the flame." _

_~ 'Paper Cut' Linkin Park (Reanimation)_

Ken looked up at Hushicyoumon with shock and awe. He watched as she approached Daemon and a flash of a memory overwhelmed him. He remembered how even their digimon at their strongest were no match for Daemon. Surely Kouen would be killed if she tried to take the Dark Lord Digimon by her self! He came out of his revere and yelled to Hushicyoumon, "He's too strong for you!"

To his amazement though, every blow to him, every attack got through and caused damage and Ken felt his anxiety ebb away for a moment. It wasn't until Daemon yelled "Flame Inferno!" that his stomach clenched up again. But Hushicyoumon absorbed the flame attack and threw it back at him in ten fold. "Phoenix Inferno!" Daemon flew backward and landed hard on the sand. 

"Ken!" she yelled suddenly and he looked up into the sky to see her hovering above Daemon. "What should I do with him?"

"What do you mean?" he yelled back.

"I could destroy him, but he would just be reconfigured and we would have to start this all over again, so what else can we do with him?"

Ken's throat seemed to close up with the thought of their other choice. He would have to open a portal to the Dark Ocean, but he didn't know if he had the strength for that again. It was bad enough wearing the clothes of the Emperor and walking through the Base and living those memories again, now he had to tap into that power to open the portal again? He took a deep breath and yelled to Hushicyoumon, "There is one way of getting rid of him."

She flew down and landed in front of him, "What is it?"

"I can open a portal to the Dark Ocean and trap him in there."

"Are you sure?" she looked closely at him and saw the apprehension in his eyes. 

He nodded, "I just hope it works. The last time I opened a portal, it was in an area that already had a weak spot in the barriers dividing the worlds." Ken took a step back and pulled his D-3 from his pocket. He held it up at eye-level and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and willed a portal to be opened to the Dark Ocean. As he held onto the thought, beads of sweat ran down his temples and his eyes squeezed tighter and tighter. He knew why it wasn't working; he was holding himself back. He tried to think back to what Davis and the others had said to him when he did this the first time. He could hear Davis' voice ring in his ears, "You're not that person anymore!" and suddenly the penny dropped. 

"No," Ken thought, "I'm really not. These clothes mean nothing, those memories are just that, memories, I am the only one who can turn me back into the Emperor and I will never do that." 

With a sharp intake of breath, he opened his eyes and a bright pink light shot out of his D-3 into the sky, where it tore and revealed the gray world of the Dark Ocean. As Ken willed it to, the rip got bigger and bigger. 

He turned his head to Hushicyoumon, "Do it now!"

She nodded once and with a final attack of flames, sent the weak form of Daemon into the dark world. Ken let go of his concentration and the rip closed, as if it had never been there. 

Hushicyoumon devolved and looked at Ken with awe. "That was amazing-!" She frowned when she noticed he was staring at her in a look of disbelief. "What?"

"Daemon is a Dark Lord Digimon, one of the most, no, possibly _the_ most powerful digimon in the world. When we came up against him, our three most powerful digimon couldn't even scratch him but you bring him down in one blow?"

She blushed, "It's not like I destroyed him."

"No, but you could have if you wanted to. Did you know how powerful you are?"

"Not until now." 

"No wonder Osamu wanted to control you. With you on our side, we can win this war in a matter of hours." Ken turned towards the Base with the intentions of going back inside. 

"I won't use this power to hurt him." She stated. 

He turned back and paused, "Why not?"

"Because I love him! I could never hurt Osamu!" 

"He is not Osamu! He is not the man you fell in love with, Kouen!" Ken yelled at her. She flinched at this, as it was something she was not expecting to see on him. He usually seemed so calm and collected; it was almost frightening to see him yell. He stepped forward. 

"He is a monster now and the part of him that is Osamu has been swallowed up!" He took another step closer. "Ask me how I know this, Kouen. Go on, ask me. I know you have been dying to ask me ever since you found out I used to be the Digimon Emperor. ASK ME!"

Holding back tears she choked, "How do you know?"

"Because I've been there. It's more than having a dark side; it's like been possessed by your dark side. Deep down, I knew the Digital world wasn't a game, that it was wrong to do the things I did but the more I did it anyway, the more that little part of me disappeared. Everyday the darkness devoured me until there was almost nothing left and there was no control and I felt like I was losing everything, even my sanity. I knew I was getting lost in something that wasn't quite me but I couldn't stop it, or didn't want to. Then I was freed from it and completely confused and lost and wanted nothing more than to die. Osamu has gone much further than I ever did, whatever part of him is left, probably doesn't want to be saved. I know that at first I wished I had died, rather than lived. Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind, Kouen. Death should be a release, not a punishment." 

"You really wanted to die?" she asked breathlessly. 

"At first, yes. Then I realized that I had friends who would help me, but it's still there and it will always be there. Memories like that don't go away too quickly." He turned around again and headed to the Base. "We have work to do."

She nodded and followed him. They made their way towards the Core once more and Ken bent down to look at the pipes leading up to it. He frowned hard. 

"What is it?" Kouen asked as she leaned over his shoulder.

"I think it would be better to disable the core in the Base in the Human world."

"Why?"

"I think they are linked somehow, though I'm not too sure how." He stretched his arm forward and touched the huge center core but gasped and pulled it away as if the tube had burned him. "Ow!" he rubbed the back of his neck. And suddenly a vision came to him. He had seen something different in the Dark Ocean just before Daemon was thrown into it. At first he had thought it was a Control Tower, but now that he thought about it, it looked like the Core of this Base. 'They're connected through the Dark Ocean.' He thought to himself.

Kouen looked closely at Ken, "Are you okay?"

He nodded and stood up. He looked up at the huge cylinder. "We'll be able to disable both Bases when we fight Osamu and in the meantime, that virus I planted will shut down all his computers, so he won't be able to control any digimon or enter into the Digital world. And if we are lucky and it does what I hoped it would do, it will disable all the Black Rings."

"You're incredible. I have no idea what we would have done without you." She gave him a sad half grin and he nodded. 

"Thanks, but if it wasn't for Shinsei, I don't know if I would have shared this information or forced myself to remember my past." He looked down and then at the hole in the wall. 

"Still, I admire you. Both of you, Ken and you have this strength that I have never had. I sometimes think that if I had ever gone through what you two have gone through, I would have broken down and given up long ago. I just hope one day I have that strength."

Ken smiled, "You do, trust me." He moved to the hole, "We should go. The others must be awake by now and wondering where we are."

She nodded and they made their way back to the port. Not a single digimon attacked them; they must have seen the fight between Hushicyoumon and Daemon and thought it safer to leave them be.

~~~~****~~~~

Kouen ran across the street and fell to her knees to look into Osamu's face. "Are you okay?" she asked desperately. 

The violet haired boy nodded dully, still in shock. She glanced down at Ken and asked him the same and he nodded too, his mop of indigo hair falling in his eyes. She smiled and helped them up, still looking intensely into Osamu's face. 

She straightened his glasses and smiled brightly. "They were crooked." She added breathlessly. 

Osamu nodded and stared at her green eyes, which burned brightly with a fire of life. 

"Would you like to have some ice-cream or something sugary, you know for the shock?" she asked them and Ken happily said that he would. 

Mutely, Osamu nodded again. Funny how a young genius with a vocabulary that could make a dictionary jealous, couldn't find any words to say to this young girl. That's when he knew. That's when he knew there was something very special about her. 

Suddenly the scene changed and she was a young woman, fifteen and dressed in a white evening dress that flowed like silk around her legs and danced by her glittering sandals. Her hair was just reaching her shoulder blades and bounced around her lightly. Her large green eyes sparkled and she looked ethereal. She secured the white chiffon shoal around her shoulders and grinned at him. "Are you going to stare at me all night, or are we going to go to the spring formal?"

Again the scene shifted and this time Kouen was standing before the Kaiser in a white Ao Dai. She looked as if she had been crying for a few days but had pulled herself together at the last minute. "Please, Osamu. Come home. Come home to me. We miss you. I miss you!"

He turned from her, "I can't. I don't belong there. Everyone expects so much from me and I can never fail. Do you know how stressful that is? I can't take it there, but here, it's different, I'm my own person."

"Here, you're a tyrant Osamu!" she burst forth and shook her head. 

"Maybe!" he yelled, "But at least I'm happy and I don't need anyone, just like my brother doesn't need me!"

"You don't need me?" she asked so softly that he only just caught it. Tears teetered on the edge of her eyes but she held them back. 

He turned slowly to her and stared at her quivering lip. He walked forward and held her shoulders. "Of course I need you. I love you, Kouen. I didn't mean that, I'm sorry. But I can't go back." An idea suddenly came to him, "Stay here, with me! Be my Emperoress."

She turned away, "I can't do that, you know I can't. I have to take care of my father."

"How is he?" he asked after a while, as if deciding to ask it.

"He's dying." She stated and the tears did fall now. 

He took her in his arms and held her, "Please stay with me. Here, you don't have to face all that. It's just a game here, nothing is real. But back there you have to face all of your problems. Be my Emperoress."

She pulled away and looked into his eyes. "If I say yes, will you promise to come home even just for a day?"

He looked hard at her and for a long while thought about it. But then her eyes began to sparkle again, even though it was with tears and he nodded mutely. 

This time only a few weeks had passed while Kouen had been living with him in the Digital world and he approached her in the bedroom. "It's ready for you. I wanted to give you a gift and now it's ready."

She turned around and looked at him, nodding solemnly again looking as if she had been crying. She never asked a question the whole time he prepared her for the Ancient Phoenix Spirit but when it was done, she awoke, her eyes blazing with power. He smiled down at her and she looked up at him, a smile to match. 

"How do you feel?" he asked. 

"Strange, but energized." She got up from the table and looked in a mirror. "I don't look any different…" she suddenly clutched her head and bent over. 

"Kouen?" he asked worriedly, "What is it, what's wrong?"

"My head…feels like it's going to explode. Voices, so many voices." She fell to her knees and began screaming. 

"I never meant to hurt you, Kouen. You have to know that. I stopped being the Kaiser. It's over, I swear, just say you forgive me please."

This time she lay in a white clinical bed, a nametag on her wrist and wearing a white hospital gown. She looked at him coldly and said nothing. Her eyes were dull now and heavy rings around them suggested she hadn't been sleeping much. "Ken said that you still have the base in the digital world." She stated bluntly. 

"Yes, but I don't use it." 

"He also said it would not be a good idea for me to take you back. And I think he's right."

"You're going to listen to what he said? Kouen, I love you and I know you still love me and I'm sorry for what I did, I never meant to hurt you-"

"But you did!" she yelled, "You did hurt me Osamu. Yes, I love you, but I think it would be better if we didn't see each other for a while. Just to give me time to heal."

Unsatisfied, he nodded and left the room; throwing the roses he had brought her in the dustbin. 

Osamu suddenly awoke in his bed and wiped the sweat off his brow. He hadn't dreamt of his past in a long time. His body shook as he got out of the bed and moved to the mirror in the bathroom. Tears sprang to his eyes, "I never meant to hurt you Kouen. I'm a monster, I'm sorry." 

'Weak fool.' The dark side of him whispered, 'She was the one who hurt you. And your brother. They all betrayed you. She said she would never leave you and what did she do? The moment you were out of the picture, she went running into Yamato's arms! And your brother was the one to turn her against you! You don't need them. I'm all you have now.'

"She loves me, still." He cried and picked up a razor blade from the basin, "She told me so, the night we…"

'Are you really strong and brave enough to do that? To take your own life?'

He dropped the blade and looked up in the mirror, an evil glint in his eyes, "Now why would I want to take my own life when I can take so many others?" he asked with a laugh and prepared for the day ahead.

~~~~****~~~~

"Morning guys." Daisuke grinned as Kouen and Ken entered the warehouse and sat down at the breakfast table. "Where were you?"

"The Digital world." Kouen stated.

"What?" Yamato gasped, "Alone?"

"Oh trust me," Ken laughed, "nothing would touch us after she fought Daemon."

"Daemon was there?" Yolei's eyes grew wide, "Are you okay?"

He nodded and kissed her good morning, "She was amazing. In her advanced form, she could have killed him, but instead we sent him to the Dark Ocean."

"Ken," Davis marveled, "you opened the gate way again?"

He nodded, "Anyway, I planted a virus in Osamu's computer and I think if we are going to go through with this plan, we should do it tonight."

"Sounds like a plan." Yolei nodded in agreement. 

Yamato offered Kouen some toast with mashed banana on it, a favorite breakfast of hers. "Breakfast?"

She grimaced at it and pushed it away, "No thanks Yamato, I'm not very hungry right now."

Ken turned to her, "Really? That's amazing, after evolving like that I thought you would be starving."

She shrugged, "Well, my stomach is squirming at the idea of food right now, but then I'm not really a breakfast person so early in the morning. Give me an hour and I'll probably be so hungry I could eat a stack of toast with mashed banana on it." 

She turned to Ken who had said nothing all this time. "Um, Ken, can I talk to you in the dojo?"

He looked up and nodded. He pushed out his chair and followed her to the room. "What is it?"

She opened the cabinet with the weapons on display and took a Samurai sword off the top shelf and held it out to him. "I want you to have this."

He looked from the sword to her face, "That's your father's sword. You love that sword, I couldn't take it."

"When my father gave it to me, he told me that if I ever needed to use it, I should make sure it is for the right reasons. I'm not the one going to fight Osamu. You have already made that clear, so I want you to have it. A way of lending my strength to you when you use it. You have the right intentions behind using it." She held it out to him again and he took it. 

He bowed, "Thank you, Kouen."

----~~~~----

Kaiser: That's where you are ending this chapter?

Ken: Why do you ask a redundant question like that? Yes, that's where she is ending the chapter.

Kaiser: It's just that there's no cliffhanger.

Osamu: Excuse me? Did you not note the line about the fight happening tonight?

Wormmon: Clearly, the end is near, possibly the next chapter.

Nic: Looks that way. I've had so much fun writing this but I can't wait to finish it. Thanks to Akino Ame for all her inspiration! I mean without her, I probably wouldn't have done this much in such little time.

Kaiser: Little time? You've taken months to get this far!

Nic: Yeah, but have you looked at my schedule? And have you forgotten all the other stories I've been writing on?

Ken: How could we forget?

Kouen: Anyway, the point is, things are getting heavy and there's something happening that none of you know about, except Nic and me! Hahaha!

Ken: What's that?

Nic: That would be telling. You'll have to wait and see. Though I wander if anyone has any suspicions.  

Nic: (Updated AN). Hehe, okay, now Akino Ame knows too. Anyway, sadly there is only one more chapter left and an epilogue, but never fear, I'm working on the sequel as we speak and Akino and I are going to write a crossover between this story and her story With Broken Wings. Till next time, read and review. 


	12. Murder Rain

"Doppelgangland"

12. 'Murder Rain'

"I don't know what's worth fighting for 

_Or why I have to scream,_

_I don't know why I instigate_

_And say what I don't mean._

_I don't know how I got this way_

_I know it's not all right_

_So I'm breaking the habit_

_Tonight."_

_~ 'Breaking the habit' Linkin Park_

They were once again gathered around the table in the middle of the warehouse, discussing tonight's events. Davis and Ken had noticed how Daisuke had given the title of leader to Ken, who seemed to be running the show around here. It was obvious as to why though. Firstly because Daisuke had been in the Kaiser's custody for months and because for Ken, this was personal. 

He turned to his doppelganger, "Ken, you know what you're doing tonight?"

He nodded and his double turned to Daisuke, Yamato and the rest of his team, "And you guys are ready for what you have to do?"

They nodded and he turned to Hikari, Yolei and Kari, "What about you girls?" 

They confirmed that they knew what they were doing and finally Ken turned to Kouen. Without a word to her, she nodded, telling him that she knew what her job was. 

"Okay," Ken began, and pulled out a roll of blue prints of the Base. "Thanks to Ken, we have these to help us in our mission." He began pointing out areas of where each team would enter and exit as well as where they should and should not go and what they would encounter at each corner. 

Kouen got up from the table and headed to the kitchen, adding behind her, "I know my way around the Base, you don't need me for this." 

Ken nodded and went back to the plans. 

Kouen opened the fridge and pulled out a banana and a slice of bread. She popped the bread in the toaster and began mashing up the fruit with a fork. While she waited for the bread to become toast her mind began to wonder. 

She found her memories go to places she hadn't thought about for a while. 

"You said you were done being the Kaiser." She barked. 

"And you said you would never leave me." He retaliated. 

She put her hands on her hips, "We could go back and forth like this for hours and it still wouldn't change anything. The point is, you can't do this in the Human world. It wasn't right in the Digital world and it's not right in our world! These people all follow you because they always have. The famous genius, Osamu Ichijouji who they just took for granted. But then you turned into a tyrant and they all wish they had never voted you into power! You have to stop this! This is not you!"

"You're wrong Kouen, this is me! This is who I am now! I can't go back, no I won't go back, so why don't you just run to your new boyfriends' open arms." He spat at her. 

She narrowed her eyes at him, "New boyfriend? Who the hell are you talking…Yamato? You think Yamato and I are in a relationship? Oh my God, you are out of your mind! We are just friends, Osamu. No matter how much I try to get over you, I never can, I will always love you, and no one can ever replace you. That's why I want you to stop this. I want to give us another chance."

He turned to her and his face seemed to light up. "Do you mean that?"

"With all my heart."

"You won't leave me?"

"Only if you stop all this."

He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to her, "I thought you might say that."

She glanced down at the ring. 

"I can't stop this, but I need you in my life Kouen, I love you, I need you." And before she could back away, he snapped the Black Ring around her wrist. 

Suddenly her memory was more recent. Now they were face to face in her apartment, her Sai poking his throat, "You wouldn't. You couldn't. You said it yourself, you love me."

"That is my only weakness Osamu, but one day you will be sorry when it becomes my strength."

Kouen looked up and nodded, suddenly understanding what Ken had been telling her this morning, that Osamu was not there anymore and the part of him that was, probably never wanted to be saved. Death should be a release not a punishment. Cruel to be kind. 

She took her toast and began spreading the banana on it. She took a bite and felt her stomach churn. "I'm too nervous to eat." She mumbled, "But like Ken said, I need my strength for tonight." So she forced it down. 

~~~~****~~~~

"I've been thinking, Ken." Yolei stated as the group of Digidestined prepared for tonight. "If you came up against Daemon, where is Myotismon? Or more correctly, Oikawa?"

"Good question." Cody rasped, "Surely he would have surfaced by now?"

"Maybe he couldn't, or he's waiting or something?" TK shrugged. "I mean, if he is out there, maybe he's just waiting for the right time to strike."

"Or the right brother." Ken muttered. 

Yolei frowned at him and he kept his head bowed, "I have a strange feeling Ken was destined to be the Kaiser and there is no stopping it. Chances are, everything we went through, is going to happen to them, in some form or another."

"What makes you say that?" Demiveemon asked. 

"Just something Shinsei said to me." Ken looked out the window and noticed it was raining but it wasn't dark with heavy thunderclouds. Instead there was a strange glow shining on the clouds above the setting sun, making the drops of rain look like diamonds. 

The day had passed relatively quickly and the group of Digidestined and Chosen found themselves facing dusk and only a few minutes until they stormed the Base. All of them had loaded up with weapons and armor and some of the men had dressed in old Sniper uniforms. Ken emerged from the dojo in loose black pants and shirt, the Samurai sword at his side and his hair tied back in a ponytail. He nodded, indicating to everyone to make their way down to the van. 

Ken leaned over to Yolei and hugged her. She turned to him and smiled.

"I want you to know, that whatever happens tonight Yolei, that I love you." 

She nodded and kissed him, "We'll be find, Ken, I have a feeling we'll be fine."

"I hope you're right." He added looking at his double.

Once they arrived at the Base, they all piled out of the van and looked at each other. Ken spoke quietly, "Alright, you know where you're going and what you're doing. Be careful and remember guys, go for the rings. If Ken's plan works, you won't have to fight long. Okay, good luck."

They all nodded and ran off in different directions. The guys and digimon all ran to the entrance, Ken amongst them dressed in a Sniper uniform. Kouen headed for a different entrance, while the girls went to the basement hole. 

As the guys entered the Base, four Snipers attacked them and as they fought and destroyed their rings, more and more Snipers came at them. Ken turned to his double, "Go now!" Ken ducked off while they were distracted and headed straight for the Core. Due to the Sniper uniform, no one looked at him twice and he made it safely to his target. He kneeled and pulled out a disk from his pocket. Then he moved to the circuit board and opened it up. He slotted the disk in and began typing in a command on the small keypad. A small green light on the side of the keypad began blinking rapidly and then burned red. He smiled and moved to the plugs where the pipes were. These were how the base was powered. He carefully began removing the largest pipe, all the while his neck burning, but he ignored it. If he disturbed the trigger, the alarm would go off and Osamu would know exactly what was going on. Sweat beaded on his brow and finally the pipe was disconnected from the Core and he held his breath to see if the power would shut down. The lights didn't dim and that was Ken's cue to knowing he had successfully disconnected the Core. Now the power would slowly shut down and it would be too late for Osamu to do anything about it. Ken breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. He turned on his heel and ran back up the stairs.

Suddenly where all the guys were, the fight stopped for a moment and every Black Ring in sight blinked red once and shattered. All the control on the Snipers vanished and they all looked very confused. 

"Guys!" Ken yelled and they all turned to him, "We have to help the girls!"

They all nodded and even the people who were Snipers followed, except for one. A man with long black hair and deep sunken black eyes looked around and ran out the Base.

They headed to the basement where all the prisoners were. All the doors had swung open after the power had shut down and the girls were helping people out of their prisons. Ken ran forward and saw his parents. His mother began crying and took him in a tight embrace. Over her shoulder he saw Miyako standing alone, looking lost. He pulled away from his mother and moved towards his girlfriend. Tears spilled down her cheeks and he ran to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry." He whispered in her ear and all she could do was sob tears of happiness. 

He pulled away and looked at her and then his parents. "I have to go, there's something I have to do, but I'll be back soon." They nodded and watched him climb the stairs. 

Mean while, Kouen had found Osamu in the arena, looking down upon it. He was typing on a keypad that was invisible to her and looking at a small monitor. He looked slightly panicked. 

"You can see your demise can't you?" she asked coolly. 

He turned to her and looked at her in her Digimon form. Suddenly she shifted and went back to her human form, "I don't need that to fight you."

"You won't fight me. You said so yourself remember." His words were harsh and cruel now; there was no trace of Osamu at all. Only the Kaiser was there. 'Good,' she thought, 'That's all I need.'

"Do you remember what I told you about my only weakness becoming my strength?" she asked.   

He laughed at her, "Yes I do."

"Good, because that day has come." She lunged at him with her Sais and almost stabbed him but he dogged the attack swiftly. Their fight became a dance, roundhouse kicks, punches, jabs all circled the room. He pulled his whip from his hip and lashed at her but she ducked and delivered a sweeping kick, knocking him to the ground. In seconds he was up on his feet again and in a second they were fighting toe to toe. 

"Why are you fighting me? Don't you remember how we are a perfect match for each other? We can't beat each other!" he yelled. 

"I know that, lets just say I'm the warm up act and if all goes to plan that's all you'll see. Cruel to be Kind, I figured I would save two Ichijouji's tonight."

"You aren't making any sense!" 

"Maybe not yet, but you'll soon know what I mean." 

The Kaiser kicked at her and knocked one of her Sais from her hand then lunged at the other one. She desperately tried to shove it in his chest but he had grabbed it and was pushing it away. They were horribly close now and both viciously fighting over the weapon until suddenly the tip went in. Both looked up at each other with shock and horror. Osamu's eyes widened and suddenly looked human again. "No." he whispered. "NO!" he screamed as Kouen stumbled backwards and fell over the edge of the balcony. He ran to look over the edge and saw her body lying sprawled out and blood oozing from the wound in her gut. He dropped the bloody Sai and clutched his head. "What have I done?"

Ken appeared in the doorway and looked at the Sai. "NO!" he screamed and ran at the Kaiser. "You monster!"

Osamu got up and instantly began defending himself again, but this time, he seemed less willing to fight. At first both brothers were an equal match for each other, just as Kouen and Osamu had been, but then Ken began using his new training, using Osamu's force against him. Osamu lunged at Ken to hit him in the chest with a flat palm, but Ken grabbed Osamu's wrist and used the forward momentum of his brother to yank him and send him flying behind him. Osamu stumbled and turned back around to face Ken. Again Osamu came at him, trying to punch his face but by using the techniques of Jujitsu and the smooth new style Kouen had mixed together, Ken was able to divert every blow. Osamu became infuriated and tried to kick Ken in the side, but Ken bent down and scooped Osamu's leg in the crook of his arm. All Ken had to do was pull his arm back and Osamu fell to the floor. In seconds he was on his feet again and the angrier he became, the wilder his attack got, which made it easier for Ken to defend himself.

The dance went on for what felt like hours, though it was only minutes. Each blow to Ken was taken and thrown back at Osamu until finally Osamu was flung backwards and hit the edge of the balcony. Ken unsheathed his sword and walked towards the Kaiser. 

"I'm sorry Osamu." He whispered as he loomed over his older brother, the sword poised above his chest. He stood like that for a while and then lowered it; "I can't do this."

"Please." Osamu choked, looking up at Ken, "Do it. I'm not strong enough, I need you to do this." 

"Osamu?" Ken frowned. 

He nodded, "Let me go, please, let me go."

Ken stared into his brother's eyes and nodded. He lifted the sword again and whispered, "I'm sorry Osamu. I love you."

"I'm sorry too. I love you." He closed his eyes and bowed his head, waiting for the blow. With a force, Ken rammed the tip of the sword through Osamu's heart. Osamu's eyes opened widely and then closed again. Ken fell to his knees and began sobbing, all the while a dull throb pulsing in the back of his neck. 

~~~~****~~~~

"How is she?" both Ken's asked when they saw Jyou emerge from the operating room. 

"I think that ancient Phoenix Spirit had something to do with saving her life. Her wound seemed to be healing itself; we just helped it along. But I'm surprised the fall didn't hurt the baby." He said with amazement. 

"Baby?" Yamato frowned, "What baby?"

Jyou looked surprised, "She's six weeks pregnant, she didn't tell you?"

They shook their heads. 

"Hmm, well, I'm sure she had her reasons. Anyway, she should be waking up soon, so you can ask her when she does."

They nodded and watched Jyou walk back into the theatre. 

They all sat down again in silence. It had only been a few hours after the assassination of the Kaiser and the news papers had already sent out their stories, the front page splashed with the headline: "Kaiser Assassinated; Brother saves us all." 

Most of the articles included witness of what it was like to be a prisoner of the Kaiser, being a Sniper and statements from some of the Chosen Children of the events of the night before. 

Ken folded the newspaper up and looked around at the others. Hikari and Takeru were sitting together, hands held tightly. Sora and Taichi were sitting by Hikari and Takeru. Daisuke was talking to Yamato who was looking very pale. Miyako took Ken's hand in hers and smiled at him, "You did the right thing." She whispered in his ear and kissed him on the cheek. 

He said nothing and tried to smile reassuringly. 

Davis, Cody, TK, Kari, Ken and Yolei all sat across from them waiting to see Kouen. All their Digimon were back at the warehouse.  

Finally Jyou emerged again and nodded at them. "You can go see her now."

They all stood up and headed to her room. Usually so many people were not allowed in a room at once, but Jyou let it slide for now. 

Kouen was lying propped up in her bed. She looked at them all with a forced smile. 

"So Jyou says you're going to be fine." Daisuke said lightly. 

She nodded, "Yeah, he just told me."

"Why didn't you tell us about the baby?" Yamato asked gently.

She sighed, "To tell the truth, I didn't know. With everything that was going on, I thought it was all stress related. Turns out I was pregnant."

"When…I mean…I'm assuming Osamu is the father?" Hikari inquired. 

She nodded, "He is."

"He…" Yamato began, "Did he, I mean did he…?"

"Rape me? No, never. He wouldn't do that. But we did…well make love a few times when I was at the Base."

"How many times are 'a few'?" Yamato snapped. 

"More than three." She raised her eyebrow to make him stop asking questions. "Anyway, the last time we…well, he disabled the ring. I guess that was the time I must have fallen pregnant."

"He disabled the ring?" Ken asked. 

She turned to him and nodded, "I know what you're thinking. But even if I had tried to escape, he would have activated it again. This way, it was just like having my Osamu back. He was my lover after all."

They nodded and she looked at Ken, who looked exhausted. She turned to everyone, "Um, could you give Ken and I a moment alone please?"

They all turned and left the room, closing the door behind them. Ken sighed and looked out the window. "Ken," she said quietly, "You did the right thing."

"Then why does it feel so wrong?" he asked coldly. 

"Doing what you did was not easy, I know, I wanted to spare you that pain, that's why I went to fight him myself. I don't want to see this destroy you."

"Why do you care so much?" he questioned, turning to her. 

"Because you are my brother! We may not be related by blood, but I have grown up with you, you are a huge part of me and I would be devastated to see anything hurt you. I love you."

He moved to the door, "I need to be alone for a while. To think things through." 

"Ken…!" she yelled to him, but he had already left the room. 

~~~~****~~~~

"Well the portal should work now." Ryo smiled as he emerged from the office. Two days had passed and things were starting to slowly go back to normal. Everyone who had been living in the warehouse was now back with his or her families or friends. After Ryo had been released he had adjusted the computer ports to send them back to their world. 

"Thanks Ryo." Daisuke smiled. 

"Anytime." Ryo turned to Ken and grinned, "Hey."

Ken smiled back, "Hey. It's been a while."

"Yeah, you've grown up a lot."

Ken nodded, "So have you. So this is what you've been doing with your time. Jumping from world to world?"

He nodded, "You wouldn't believe this one world I was living in, well technically I still live there. Anyway, in that world, all you guys were characters in a TV show." 

Ken smiled, "Really? Strange."

He nodded and shook Ken's hand; "Well maybe I'll see you around sometime."

Ken grinned, "I'd like that." They hugged and Ryo patted Ken on the back. 

"I'm glad you're doing okay, Ken."

Ken smiled warmly at his friend, "Me too."

The rest of the Chosen along with the older Chosen, Kouen and Mike entered the office and thanked them all for their help. Ken stepped forward and shook his double's hand, an odd glint in his eye, "Thank you for your help. Without you I doubt we would have been able to defeat him."

"You're welcome. I'm just sorry it had to turn out like this."

"All things happen for a reason right?" Ken shrugged. 

"Yeah, I guess they do."

Kouen stepped forward and hugged Ken, "Thank you." 

He smiled and nodded, "I'll miss you Kouen, I really feel like I've known you for a long time."

"Who knows, you may find me in your world." 

He nodded and they all said their last good-byes and were sucked into the computer. 

"You're back!" Izzy yelled as he leapt up from his desk. "You were gone so long! I was getting worried!"

"We're fine, Izzy." TK muttered and picked up Patamon. 

"What happened, tell me everything." The genius demanded and so they gave an account of everything that happened while Izzy listened with rapt attention. 

~~~~****~~~~

Kouen sighed and flopped onto her bed. She noticed Shinsei standing in her doorway. "What is it?"

"You have won the war, are you ready for the battle?"

"Battle? Don't you mean we've won the battle are we ready for the war?" Kouen asked sitting up. 

"I mean exactly what I say Kouen." and she left the room.

"Battle?" Kouen mumbled, then she looked up with shock, "Ken!"

----~~~~----

Nic: Yes! Just the Epilogue now!

Ken: And it's done?  
  


Kaiser: Yes, it's done. 

Osamu: I'm afraid not, she has a sequel in mind remember?

Wormmon: Oh, yeah.

Nic: Uhuh. 

Kouen: So did any of you figure out the fact that I was pregnant? (And by that I mean the readers, not you guys.)

Ken: Well, I did know, 'cause Nic told me. 

Kaiser: How come you didn't tell me?

Osamu: Or me, since I'm the father?

Nic: 'Cause Ken and I are closer and he hangs around all the time, it's hard to keep anything from him.

Kouen: Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Nic: (Updated AN). I'll be posting the Epilogue sometime this week, probably Wednesday, I don't know. I hope you enjoyed this! I had a lot of fun writing it. Thanks everyone for reviewing. 


	13. Epilogue

"Doppelgangland"

'Epilogue'

_"I'm scared to see you after all we've been through._

_The world's crazy again, but I keep searching for more,_

_The world's crazy again, no more war._

_I'm thinking at a quicker rate, just looking around the room for_

_Exits and escapes. _

_'Cause all we do is moan, about who did what to who_

_Can't we realize what we're wasting?_

_I'm scared to see you after all we've been through."_

_~ 'Crazy World' Prime Circle_

Four months had passed since the Digidestined had returned to their world and things had gone back to normal. It was nearing the end of the year and Ken found himself needing to visit Sam's grave. Though when he arrived, he was surprised to see a tall young woman with a long braid of copper hair. She was dressed in a white skirt down to her ankles and a beige top and the corners of Ken's mouth began to lift. She was placing a white rose on his tombstone. 

He quietly walked up to the grave and stood next to her. "Did you know him?" he asked. 

She shook her head, "Not really. But I saw him…this is going to sound strange, but I saw him die. It really affected me and I just feel that I need to visit his grave every year." 

Ken nodded and she turned to him and jumped as if seeing him for the first time, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Who was he to you?"

"He was my brother." Ken said with a smile. 

"You look a lot like him." She said quietly. "You were there, weren't you? I think I remember you there."

Ken nodded. "So you come here every year just to visit my brother?"

She shook her head, "When I come to visit my father's grave, I always visit Sam's and put a rose on his grave. I feel like I should have known him." She turned to him, "You too."

He smiled, "You know, I feel the same way. My friends and I are all meeting for coffee tonight, would you like to join us?"

She smiled kindly, "I'd like that." They began walking and she turned to him, "By the way, my name's Tamashii Kouenno."

He smiled, "I know." 

~~~~****~~~~

Kouen stood in front of Osamu's grave, placing a white rose on his tombstone. Suddenly she felt someone else's presence. "Hello Ken." She said quietly. 

She turned to face him. She wore a long flowing white dress, hiding her round belly. "I don't suppose you're here to stay?"

"I feel at home there."

"Osamu said something like that when he first ran away. I don't want to see the same thing happen to you Ken. I love you, and so I will fight for you and if I have to, I will fight you, if only to save you from this darkness that has gripped you."

"We'll see." He growled and turned to walk away from her.

_"Forgive me, for sleeping so long, for not_

_Letting dreams mean more to me._

_I'm sorry for changing_

_I hope to get back and finally see_

_That I'm standing, but still holding my head_

_Holding back red can barely see_

_And I don't think I can handle no more,_

_About to explode, get away from me._

_I wanted this to end, and turn my face_

_And not be disillusioned by the thoughts I chased._

_Now I can't see the reason, can't concentrate_

_Frustrated to a point I cannot take._

_I think I'm gonna lose it_

_Hope that I don't fall_

_Hope you hear my call._

_'Cause I'm the one to choose it_

_It's not your call, and I'll be standing so tall._

_No more feeling fear, no more paranoia_

_Let it disappear away from me._

_All and all this change, has a better meaning_

_Deeper healing_

_I'm so sure_

_That I'm not the same, as you."_

_~ 'Standing' Prime Circle. _

----~~~~----

Nic: And it's done.

Ken: Finally!

Kaiser: Check it out. I make an appearance again!

Osamu: In the form of Ken, wow, imagine that.

Kouen: Anyway, here's hoping the masses enjoyed this.

Nic: Yeah, if you did, let me know!

Nic: (Updated An.) It's short and sweet but lays the path nicely for the sequel. I want to thank everyone who read this and reviewed. I also would like to say a HUGE thank you to Akino Ame who helped me finish this and gave me inspiration and some help along the way. If you haven't read her stories 'With Broken Wings' and 'Echoes of Angels' I suggest you do, they are amazing. Also, we are writing a cross over story together entitled, 'Cruel Angel's Thesis'. It is a crossover between 'Doppelgangland', 'Sins of the Father' (sequel), and 'With Broken Wings' and 'Echoes of Angels'. 

Anyway, till next time, read and review and if any of you are interested, I have finally started putting up book one of my original series, BJN. It's under my account Ken's Luver at FictionPress.


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